25 plus homes or businesses damaged,100 plus trees downed, yet the community remained in tact and not a single injury has been reported from Walnut Grove, according to Mayor Brian Gomillion. The community wide power outage is expected to be restored today. The National Weather Service will survey this week to establish the cause of the devastation. Late last night a state of emergency was declared by the city. But no matter what, the community will bounce back, just like it always does.
Leake County Sheriff Atkinson said that when the storm came through “they started getting multiple calls about trees down, power lines down and trees on houses. Communications did an outstanding job of getting us all the calls and information. And most of my whole department including the night shift guys came in on their own to help. And there were citizens and volunteers came out and just started clearing roads out. It was just amazing all the help we had to help get the roads opened up.
The Storm moved through around 3:30 pm according to Walnut Grove Police Chief Kevin Polk. “We stayed out with Mississippi Power and contractors till about 3:45am in the morning trying to restore a transmission line coming in from Scott County. Then another crew came in early in the morning to help restore power. The whole town has been with out electricity but there is hope. We are seeing light poles put up, lines being repaired, roadways being cleared. We are trying to get everything back to normal as soon as we can. We are very fortunate with the sustained winds that came through that there were no injuries or deaths. God put his hand on the situation and helped us out on this one.”
Emergency Management Director Tommy Malone said “we had some intense winds come through on Tuesday. We had damage in different parts of the county but the bulk of it was in Walnut Grove. I commend the power company, road crews, linemen, first responders, fire department, and law enforcement who have put in some hard work to help this get done. It is just awesome. The NWS will have survey crews in several different parts of the county this week and will give us a final assumption. Whether it was tornadic or not, there were some devastating winds. But we are a resilient community and will bounce back. I saw neighbors helping neighbors yesterday and people working to get things back together as soon as the storm passed. That’s what we are all about here.”
Mayor Brian Gomillion said “I am humbled by the calls, texts, and visits of people from all walks of life who have reached out to offer assistance and have helped our folks. Mississippians are most definitely the most generous, caring people and it really shows after a disaster. A simple thank you does not seem adequate.”
“Our neat small town has taken a blow but we are resilient and we will come back stronger. We thank everyone for the concern shown for our community. We ask for our residents patience as we work in the coming months through the debris removal process.” As of late last night a State of Emergency had been declared by the City of Walnut Grove to Leake Emergency Management and on to MEMA said Gomillion.
photos-Brian Gomillion
