Simpson was one of the counties affected when a winter storm hit Mississippi beginning on February 14. Many counties in the central and northern areas of the state experienced dangerous freezing temperatures, ice on roads and bridges, and multiple power outages.
In Simpson County the weather closed some businesses for approximately three days. The Simpson County School District was forced to close schools for the week to ensure the safety of students and prevent unnecessary travel over the icy roadways.
The county’s Emergency Coordinator John Kilpatrick said that several accidents were reported as a result of the freezing weather.
In the midst of all the damage Simpson countians did what they have always done and pulled together to help their neighbors.
The Simpson County Sheriff’s office and other agencies worked around the clock to assist citizens in need. Sheriff Paul Mullins explained that the deputies took on additional duties to help during this time. He said at the height of the danger deputies transported hospital personnel back and forth to work using vehicles suited for the icy conditions. Several of the hospital staff members were unable to drive their personal vehicles.
He said, “The hospital personnel are essential so we needed to make sure they were able to get back and forth so they could continue to help the community.”
Deputies also assisted patients and citizens to reach vital appointments such as dialysis, sometimes working 18 hour days during the snow storm. Mullins said several local businesses assisted by providing meals and keeping the officers fed and that other local stores provided sandwiches and chips to distribute to the stranded truck drivers along Highway 49.
He said the Mendenhall Fire Department also checked on the truckers and went truck to truck to see if there were any medical emergencies. Several fire incidents resulted from citizens using alternative heat sources when their power went out.
Mullins said he was most proud of how the citizens came and supported each other. He said several citizens provided equipment and time to help clear the streets of debris.
The Simpson County Sheriff’s Department responded to over 100 calls detailing accidents where cars had run off the road. However local citizens provided aid via ATVs and other four wheel drive vehicles with pulling stranded cars from ditches throughout the county.
Mullins said, “Citizens were very understanding of the situation and understood when we would ask them to leave their vehicles. It was hard for some people, but they understood what was going on if we weren’t able to get their vehicles out right away.”
Simpson County was able to weather the storm together.
Mullins said, “It was a team effort between all of the agencies and citizens. I would like to thank the local police departments, fire departments, road department, MDOT, Emergency Manager, MHP, wrecker companies, power crews, local businesses that fed us, and the citizens that helped where and when needed. I would like to praise my entire department. You all stepped up when the county needed you the most.”
Stories circulating detailed acts of kindness during the crisis. AD, the owner of JJ’s, provided coffee and pizza to truck drivers who were stranded on Highway 49 on account of the snow storm.
Entergy and Southern Pine electrical company employees worked as much as the weather would allow restoring power in a timely manner.
Mendenhall Mayor Todd Booth explained that the city of Mendenhall experienced damage to their water system, but that the system returned to normal early Monday morning on February 22.
Booth said, “It was a challenging time but we were finally able to get the system back to capacity. The water system in back up and running normally.”
During the freeze the city crew worked to repair leaks. Booth explained that there were few leaks, but several pipes burst due to citizens running water to keep pipes from freezing over. The constant running water put a strain on the system and led to other problems.
As challenging as the ordeal was, it also served as a learning opportunity.
Booth said, “We’ve learned a lot from this incident, and we realized how vulnerable our system was to incidents like this. Now we can prepare in case something like this happens again.”
Booth stressed that the new water tank currently being worked into the water system will help tremendously with situations like this in the future.
He praised the city crew for the excellent job they did to restore water to Mendenhall citizens.
He said, “I want to commend our Superintendent, Red Lewis, for everything he did. He and I were up for three straight days on six hours of sleep. He is a tremendous superintendent, and I want to acknowledge him and his crew for their outstanding effort because that’s what it took.
Booth said, “We’ve learned a lot going through this and we’ll be better for it.”
