Flood aftermath leaves residents with a big clean-up

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Folks in Southern Lowndes County faced a big clean-up from last week’s floodwaters.

The floodwaters in those neighborhoods have gone down but debris still covered the streets.

People pulled out their brooms and supplies and started the cleanup.

As Angie Beatty wiped mold from her window, she thought back to when her home was underwater, not once, but twice in nearly a year.

“There are people that are impacted, there are children, there are elderly people. For it to happen two years in a row to those people and to me it’s unheard of,” said Beatty.

Floodwaters rose up to four feet, ruining Beatty’s floorboards and other valuables.

“If you have two feet of half a foot of water between here and each lock & dam that’s a lot of water,” said Beatty.

Beatty isn’t alone; Rick Taylor faced the same reality.

” A lot of people in this area, it caught them off guard so a-lot are dealing with a-lot of stuff here today,” said Taylor.

He said the first obstacle he’s tackled on his list was the driveway.

“It’s a lot of work because when the river goes down it leaves a lot of mud, and that’s the thing people are dealing with is getting up the mud. It’s important to get it up before it dries because then it’ll be really dried up and hard to remove,” said Taylor.

“It’s about an inch and a half deep everywhere, probably deeper in some places but it’s a slow go,” said volunteer Frank Houser.

The clean-up has hit homeowners right in their pocketbooks.

“I’ve spent almost $12,000 this time last year getting my pool cleaned and the bottom of everything and here I go again. I still haven’t painted from the last flood. Trying to get everything prepared to get it back together and it’s a financial burden on all these people,” said Beatty.

While remaining water got swept out of houses, community members hoped next year won’t be the same.

“People got a lot of work to do. It’s a good early start to spring cleaning. That’s the way I’ve been saying it, they got to keep a positive attitude toward things,” said Taylor.

Residents in Pirate’s Cove and August Landing hoped to have most of the work finished by the end of the week.