By Rupert Howell
Panola County’s Emergency Management Director Daniel Cole said as bad as flooding has been to a few in Panola County, “Our neighbors to the west have it much, much worse.”
Homeowners, farmers and church members along Panola’s western boundary and over in Quitman County fought through last week against rising water, building levees, pumping water or feeding workers.
Cole estimated between 25-30 homes in Panola with actual water damage and an additional 10 homeowners unable to access their homes due to high water.
Meanwhile neighboring counties to the west including Quitman, Coahoma and others are still assessing damage to structures caused by slowly receding high water which are the result of heavy rains that struck the area beginning March 10. Water has risen from then until Saturday when Cole said a slight decrease in the water depth was noticed on Dummy Line Road near the Quitman County line.
Chad Meek who serves as Panola County’s Flood Plain Manager and Cole did a “dashboard assessment,” over the weekend as part of a required step in seeking Disaster Area status.
Meek said, “Not a house in compliance (with Panola’s Flood Plain ordinances) had any water at all,” while he explained that houses with water in them were constructed prior to FEMA flood maps and one flooded home was considered a “repetitive loss property,” that had been flooded several times before.
Ag shops, barns and outbuildings were not included in the survey, but may be where the most damage occurred in Panola.
Panola County is currently playing the “waiting game,” according to Cole who has recently been at this rodeo following the late December hurricane and flooding that followed. Adjacent counties were declared Disaster Areas with an initial declaration and about two weeks later Panola, and other counties, were declared in an “add-on” declaration.
“Waiting is the hardest part,” Cole said referring to those with damaged homes and belongings who need to know whether or what kind of assistance will be made available.
“But we don’t get to make those decisions,” The EMA Director said explaining that those decisions are made by MEMA and FEMA.
Meanwhile Cole and Meek are hoping water continues to recede through the week with the possibility of more rain predicted for late Wednesday and Thursday.