Storm clean-up calls for long shifts from road department crews

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Clean-up has begun following Saturday’s powerful storms.

Road crews throughout North Mississippi picked up the remains of fallen trees and power lines.

However, those long shifts of making repairs can have workers up all hours of the night only to get up the next day and head back out work.

When severe weather strikes, road department crews have always prepared to get county roads back open if they’re blocked.

A consistent string of inclement weather can lead to long, tiring hours.

“It always stress when you have a storm,” said homeowner Robert Wright.

Broken tree limbs and debris covered Robert Wright’s yard.

Wright said whenever a strong storm has impacted Calhoun County, several road crews come out for clean-up and recovery.

“They were working out in the rain and it was thundering and lighting but they went ahead and did their job,” said Wright.

Supervisor for Mississippi Department of Transportation Ronnie Morgan said he and his staff have worked around the clock getting trees out of the roads.

“The main thing is safety and keeping public roads safe and watching for down power lines because you can get electrocuted,” said Morgan.

They’re not alone.

Bruce Mayor Rude Pope said the city’s public works department is out searching for storm debris.

“We’re looking for trouble spots where we can get in and clean out some ditches and we found several that we need to work on right away,” said Pope.

Clearing out those ditches will prevent flooding and poor drainage in the next round of severe weather.

Pope said that can leave his crews very busy.

“Especially in the flood, we worked long hours. We had to keep some people here and evacuate a few people from the flood areas and we did work long hours doing that. We have some good people in Bruce they’re always helping us,” said Pope.

That’s why residents, like Wright, were grateful for the services city workers provided throughout the county.

“They’re like a treasure to us really, having good people get out and do that kind of work. Public service can have really demanding problems like fires, winds, and storms. And I’m blessed this country has good people and good men and women to get out and do those thing for living because everyone can’t do it,” said Wright.

If you’ve experienced any drainage or flooding issues in your area from the storm, call your local road department for assistance.