Lauderdale County residents awoke to trees and power lines blocking multiple roads in the area, but the region looks to have avoided severe damage as the remnants of Hurricane Francine moved through the area, emergency management officials said Thursday.
Lauderdale County Emergency Management Director Odie Barrett said his office has received numerous reports of trees, power lines and power poles down, as well as plenty of debris littering the roads. Multiple vehicle crashes have been reported and one trailer was destroyed when a tree fell on it, he said, but there have been no injuries.
“Overall, I mean, the Lord put his hands on us again and kept us safe,” he said.
While the county had prepared for potential tornadoes created by Hurricane Francine, Barrett said no rotation was observed in Lauderdale County or the East Mississippi region.
“Especially with us being on the east side of this, we didn’t know exactly what we were going to get, and we were in a prime area to get heavy damage,” he said.
Barrett urged drivers to use caution while out and about as wet pine straw and debris can make roads slippery.
Crews continue to work to clear roads and restore power to local residents. East Mississippi Electric Power Association reported 108 outages impacting 4,653 customers around 10:30 a.m. Mississippi Power reported 162 outages affecting 1,710 customers.