Straight-line winds blew through Carroll and Montgomery counties on Easter Sunday, toppling trees, downing power lines, and causing widespread power outages. Weather reports estimated some gusts with speeds of to 70 miles per hour.
Hattie Frank Maloney of Winona hunkered under a mattress in the hall of her Pecan Lane home with her husband and daughters as the storm struck Winona.
“I have never been that scared with weather before in my life,” Maloney said. “I was visibly shaking. It was very scary.”
In Carroll County, one person was killed after a tree fell on a residence near the McCarley community.
According to Carroll County Sheriff Clint Walker, Delma Ree Thomas, 47, died after a tree fell on her home located on County Road 333. Walker said Thomas was in bed when a tree fell on her bedroom. Her teenage son was sleeping in the room next door but was uninjured.
Carroll County Emergency Management Director Ken Strachan said the Emergency Operations Center received the call at 10:07 p.m. on April 12, and the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, Carrollton/North Carrollton Fire Department, and MedStat responded to the scene.
Not far away in Winona, Maloney and her husband, Michael, heard the wind about 10:15 p.m.
“All of a sudden, I heard a huge gust of wind,” Maloney said. “I grabbed the girls and we went into the hallway, and Michael threw a mattress over us.”
Maloney said a tree from a neighboring yard fell and “crushed our fence, barely missing our house.” At least five electric poles snapped in half along Pecan Lane, according to Maloney, littering the street with power lines.
“Rescue crews were there almost immediately clearing the road and making sure everyone was safe,” Maloney said.
On Gum Branch Road between Winona and Vaiden, Tim and Faith Blankenship rode out the storm in a bathtub.
“We thought it was a tornado, but it was straight-line winds,” Faith Blankenship said. “The entire house was shaking. I thought it was going to blow away.”
Blankenship said they heard a large oak tree fall in the front yard, and when a chinaberry tree crashed into the side of the house, she thought her kitchen was leveled.
“When it first fell, we were in the other part of the house, and we thought it took our kitchen out,” she said. “It was very loud.”
Luckily, the falling tree only damaged some siding and sheet rock and tore the utility box from the side of the house. The Blankenships were unharmed in the storm.
Winona Fire Chief Brad Mooneyham said the department responded to the report of a gas leak on Powell Street about 11 p.m. Sunday night due to the storm.
“A tree fell on a house, and when it fell, it pulled the gas line out of the ground,” Mooneyham said. “We did have to evacuate a couple of houses for Atmos until they could get the gas cut off.”
Captain Dan Herod said he and Chief Tommy Bibbs responded to calls around the city from residences with damage, and closed streets that were obstructed by trees and power lines.
“We checked on the businesses on Highway 82, which we do everything the power goes out in town,” Herod said. “Then to the hospital and the nursing home.”
In Carroll County, Strachan said no other injuries were reported from the storm, but damage was widespread across the county. On Monday morning, Strachan said more than seven roads were closed due to trees over the road.
“Highway 35 north [just past the Carroll County Recreational Park] was blocked with light lines in the trees,” Strachan said. “There have been reports of numerous trees down at residences. [Mississippi Department of Transportation] crews responded to portions of Highway 82 with trees down, the westbound lanes in two locations – one near McCarley and the other near Carrollton.”
Strachan said the area coordinator for Mississippi Emergency Management Authority came to Carroll County after midnight the night of the storm to help assess the damage.
In Montgomery County, Emergency Management Director Allen Pratt said 14 structures were damaged Sunday night, with one completely destroyed and three others heavily damaged.
“I’m still getting calls today about damage,” Pratt said Wednesday afternoon.
Pratt said a mobile home on Highway 404 in Duck Hill was completely destroyed from a falling tree, while homes on Powell Street, Fairground Street, and Montgomery Street in Winona were severely damaged from trees.
“Thankfully, there were no injuries,” Pratt said.
As of press time Wednesday, Carroll County still had 37 homes without power, and Montgomery County had 67. However, after the storm power outages were widespread, affecting both Carrollton and North Carrollton as well as the entire city of Winona and hundreds in the eastern part of Montgomery County.
For Maloney, residents on Pecan Lane saw power restored just after lunch on Wednesday.
For the Blankenships, a live powder line is down on their property and power is still out. The couple is staying with relatives until it is safe to return home.
