Tame Ida shakes a few trees, sprinkles in county

There were no reports of significant damage related to the remnants of Hurricane Ida that passed through on Monday as schools and businesses closed.

Neshoba County Administrator Jeff Mayo said Monday that reports of power outages were “sporadic.”

Central Electric had a total of 513 electric customers of 11,353 without power Monday morning, but all power had been restored as of Tuesday morning

Neshoba County Emergency Management Director Darrell Wilson said they received nine 911 calls regarding trees or limbs on roadways.

“All have been removed,” Wilson said. “No structural damage has been reported to 911 or the EMA office.”

Sheriff Eric Clark said he was relieved to see the damage kept to a minimum. He said he had some deputies doing traffic control while emergency responders worked to clear limbs from the roadways. Specifically, he said there was a call on County Road 365 on Monday. 

Clark thanked the many volunteer fire departments in the county for their quick response times.

“Our volunteer firefighters have done a great job,” Clark said. “They are a lifeline to the Neshoba County first-responder community.”

Wilson said a Flood Warning remains in place for the Pearl River above Philadelphia until Friday morning Sept. 3.

The Neshoba County Board of Supervisors held an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon and declared a state of emergency. The Neshoba County Courthouse, Justice Court and non-public safety and non-public works offices were closed Monday as was City Hall. An online tax sale proceeded Monday. Sanitation ran as long as it was safe to do so, Mayo said.

The National Hurricane Center downgraded Ida to a tropical storm overnight as it moved inland after making landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana, Sunday morning and causing severe damage in southern Louisiana and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Millions of people in Louisiana and South Mississippi are still without electrical service.

Ida made landfall on Sunday with 150 m.p.h.  winds, the fifth strongest to ever hit the US mainland. 

Ida — a Category 4 storm — hit on the same date Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years earlier, coming ashore about 45 miles west of where Category 3 Katrina first struck land.