First responders fighting the flood

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – As the water continues to rise, so do concerns for law enforcement and first responders.

Calhoun County Sheriff Greg Pollan said there are already some parts of the county that can’t take much more flooding.

It’s only day two of what could be a week long rain and flooding event and that means first responders will be working around the clock to try and keep everyone safe.

Pollan said his entire department has been out and will continue to be, until the flooding stops.

Problems are running as deep as the water here in Calhoun County.

Roads and fields look more like rivers or lakes, and now homes are being threatened as well and it’s not over.

“There’s areas of my county that can’t take much more and then we’ll be under not just inches, but probably a couple of feet of water. In some areas, county roads that will flood, especially in the southwest portion of the county near Big Creek, that way you know, there’s some areas that we’re very concerned about.”

This area in Vardaman was already under water Wednesday morning.

“There’s a culvert that is stopped up right here and one of the county workers is out here with a backhoe trying to just keep it flowing, trying to get this water away from this house as quickly as possible, because obviously, you know better than I, that more rain is coming, so it’s not over with. We will be over here for a couple of days doing this.”

High water won’t keep deputies and other first responders from protecting their community.

“We’re doing what we can. We’ve got backpacks packed. We’ve got enough food and water and supplies that we can stay out for days if we have to. Hopefully, we don’t have to, but all my guys are prepared to be here for the long-haul.”

One rescue has already taken place in Calhoun County, but as the flooding continues, rescues could become even more difficult.

“If it’s one of those incidents where we can’t drive to you like that, we would call a wrecker. We have water rescue. We can call the game and fish, they have boats, four-wheelers. We have people that are on standby to bring us whatever equipment that we need, so we would figure out a way to get to you if we had to.”

Pollan is stressing for everyone to be smart during this dangerous weather event.

While I was in Calhoun County, I witnessed this truck do everything the sheriff says you shouldn’t do.

“We’re asking people not to play in it, not to go through it. Don’t put us in the position where we have to try to rescue you, you know, we could be using those resources for other things and we’re just asking for people to use common sense.”

Luckily, the driver of the truck we witnessed trying to go over a very flooded road, backed out before something tragic happened.