Leake County residents call for action following flood damage

CARTHAGE, Miss. (WLBT) - ”Only thing I got is the stuff I got on now. The rest of my stuff is all messed up,” Carthage resident S.L. Wilder claimed.

Residents living in Leake County are struggling after record rainfall caused flooding in the area.

“I haven’t seen that like this and I’ve been here for 21 years and they said now it rose up like this you,” Carthage resident Abraham Evans said.

Many say when they woke up this morning and saw water inside of their homes, they quickly tried to escape before they were trapped.

Leake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson says he and his deputies were up early helping folks get out of harm’s way.

“We just received a call that the water had come up so quick. And water pretty deep inside the house. They were wanting out and were scared. The water was moving so swift, they were scared to try to get out.”

Sheriff Atkinson says flooding caused damage to over 30 roads in the county. Some only had minor damage while others were washed out and collapsed.

Residents near the downtown area in Carthage say while this is the most flooding they’ve seen, they aren’t strangers to occasional flooding.

“We have asked the mayor of Carthage even before her we asked,” Carthage resident Iva Luckett said. “She has said she was gonna get it done when it dried up, but it’s dried up a million times and it still hasn’t got done. Look at the results that I’m having to deal with losing everything that I’ve had,”

As more people report damage to both their homes and vehicles, they hope this flooding is a wake-up call - that city officials will try and resolve the ongoing issues.

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