Winter storms spring Good Samaritans into action

Countless stories of first responders and volunteers jumping into action have arisen from last week’s winter storm that left most of the county without power and roadways either blocked or iced over.

“My guys spent all last week as first responders and working traffic in the changing road conditions,” said Eric Clark, Neshoba County sheriff. “We did not have a lot of arrests because people weren’t out.”

Clark said that Curt Pace, pastor at New Bethel church, was out with his tractor helping vehicles up one of the big hills on Mississippi 16 west toward Edinburgh known as Chaney Hill. Pace said that he lost count of how many vehicles he helped but it was at least 30 who had trouble getting up the iced-over hill.

Pace said he helped cars up the hill and helped direct traffic. He said the dangerous part was going down the hill. Though there were no injuries reported, Pace said there were some minor fender benders and he watched one truck slide down the hill sideways.

“I was just trying to help them,” Pace said. “It was a lot of people just trying to get home, maybe traveling from Carthage to Philadelphia or Philadelphia to Carthage. I know several people I helped were trying to get back to Jackson.”

Pace said the roads were at their worst on Tuesday, Feb. 16 from about 2:30 p.m. to about 9 p.m. when the MHP shut down the roadway on Mississippi 16 for some time.

Clark said Pace’s church was one of the first to set up a shelter and offered warm food plates to people who were without electric power. Clark said Pace fed him and a few deputies along with the congregation one afternoon.

One of Clark’s staff that took a particularly unorthodox role from his normal duties was Jail Administrator Brad Stuart.

“He played a huge role in getting personnel to and from work,” Clark said.

On social media, Stuart detailed one adventure he encountered while taking a correctional officer home. On Feb. 17, he posted nthyat he encountered a stranded 18 wheeler on Mississippi 19 North. He said the drivers were two Mexican men, one of whom could not understand English and the other could speak just enough for them to communicate.

“They were stranded in a terrible spot near the sandpits just south of the county line,” Stuart said. “Every 18 wheeler that came behind them became stranded also.”

Stuart said they were trying to climb a hill that was so slippery one could not walk up it. Clark said there are some large hills in that part of the county that were “tough to manage” in the ice.

He was able to make a phone call and a friend of his, Cory Fortune, was able to bring a logging skidder from a nearby site to the scene to help pull trucks up the hill with permission from Jerry Vowell.

“Cory spent over half his day being a good Samaritan,” Stuart said. “He pulled multiple trucks to safety.”

Stuart said that he would get a bit more credit than he deserved from one of the truck drivers. He said the one who did not speak English looked at him with a smile and pointed to the sky saying, “Thank you. You will be in heaven” as they pulled away.

“God Bless the fine people of Arlington and Four Corners,” Stuart said. “Words can’t express how proud I am to live right smack dab in the middle of such fine folks.”

Clark also said that Vowell would not accept any compensation for the help. Some truckers even offered fuel.

“The people of the county did a good job checking on each other,” Clark said. “Everyone was very neighborly and shared resources and offered help when they could.”

Clark said they had volunteer firemen organized to help answer the influx of well-being check requests they received during the outages.

Wednesday night was the worst of the ice and slush. Clark said he had patrols driving the roadways trying to document which roads were clear in case they received any calls.

Clark said numerous traffic accidents were reported to his department and Mississippi Highway Patrol though many likely went unreported and were resolved by community effort or passing good Samaritans.

“I don’t know how many there were but I know the number was really high,” Clark said. “I know there were good Samaritans out there with personal tractors and other equipment that helped vehicles that may have been stuck. A lot of them probably went unreported.”

The story was different for the police department. Philadelphia Police Detective Bobby Pattillo said the department actually reported fewer motor vehicle accidents last week than the week prior.

Pattillo said the department recorded 10 accidents between Feb. 14 and Feb. 22, fewer than the 16 reported from Feb. 7 to Feb 13.

“It appears people stayed off the roads during the worst of it,” Pattillo said.

Clark said operations are getting back to normal. He said he knows there will be “some equipment” issues that he will have to address but overall was very pleased with the way his deputies responded to the weather.

“I am really proud of our guys. They did a good job,” Clark said.