It was like watching a segment of the nightly news as townspeople rushed to fill sandbags and block the rising flood waters of Sipsey Creek south of Sebastopol. Only, it was a segment of the nightly news, and townspeople did rally together to save the home of Sebastopol Police Chief Justin McDill and his family, last Wednesday evening as flash flooding from the creek rushed across Highway 21 and was quickly rising toward the home.
By Thursday morning the flood waters had receded and a sign placed in a pile of the sand at the end of the McDill’s driveway read, “We saved it — Thank the Lord & Thank You!”
Sebastopol, Small Town, Big Heart, lived up to the motto.
Heavy rains drenched most of Mississippi early last week and continued into the morning Wednesday where roads and highways all over Scott County were quickly covered with flood waters, including the intersection of Highway’s 35 and 80 which surprised many drivers as they plowed into the water in their daily commute. Many roads remained closed at noon and others were passable but very dangerous. Areas of Highway 21 between Forest and Sebastopol were under water and flash flooding at Lee’s Steakhouse filled the restaurant and surrounding area as it rushed across the highway. The historic flood water also entered Faye’s Accounting Service and the heavy rain caused large potholes to form in the highway further complicating driving conditions.
In Forest multiple neighborhoods like those on Sanders Street and Banks Street reported flooded yards as of late morning Wednesday and both the Scott County Sheriff’s Department, the Forest Police Department, and Sebastopol Mayor Greg McGarrity took to social media to encourage residents not to drive unless absolutely necessary until flood waters subsided.
To make matters worse in Forest and Morton, flooding on Interstate 20 between the two towns closed that major highway and traffic was diverted to Highway 80. At 10:38 Wednesday morning the Mississippi Department of Transportation issued a Flash Flood Emergency for portions of Scott County “especially for the area from Morton to Forest.”
The National Weather Service in Jackson reported that as much as seven inches of rain or more fell on northern portions of the county in a sort timeframe Wednesday morning and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reported that the state experienced record rainfall, with some areas receiving 14 inches of rain within a 72-hour timeframe.
