Panola Storms
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The heavy deluge that accompanied strong storms through Panola County Wednesday morning quickly overran ditches, filling Sand Creek to the bottom of the Broadway Street bridge.
Another view of Sand Creek filled with runoff from Wednesday’s heavy rains. The channel at Creek Drive rose almost to overflow.
The deep drainage ditch along Tubbs Road filled to overflowing, prompting Batesville police to close the route to traffic.
A Smith Cleaners employee looks through the front door of the Thomas Street business as a pickup passes. A policemen had attempted to stop traffic on the street to prevent wakes created by passing traffic, but the driver of this truck just ignored the officer.
By Billy Davis
The southern portion of Panola County was being pummeled with rain and hail Wednesday morning, following similar destructive weather that struck the northern portion late Tuesday night.
In Batesville, a thunderstorm warning Wednesday progressed to a tornado warning about 8:30 a.m.
The weather warning came after the National Weather Service picked up wind sheers in the already-fierce thunderstorm, said Daniel Cole, Panola County EMA director.
During the Tuesday storms, five trees fell on homes in Crenshaw during three waves of storms, also flooding streets in the town, said Mayor Oscar Barlow.
Two of the five homes sustained major damage, according to Cole.
Hail as large as softballs fell in the Como area Tuesday and at least five county roads were reported washed out by fast-moving floodwaters.
“The hail was bad enough that it smashed the windshield of a sheriff’s deputy’s patrol car,” Cole reported, passing on second-hand information.
Trained storm spotters watched funnel clouds and rotations but no tornadoes touched down, said Cole.
The storm damage in Crenshaw came from straight-line winds, said Barlow.
