Pearl River County lends hand to Magee
Published 12:48 am Sunday, March 29, 2009
In the aftermath of a major tornado in Magee in Simpson County, Pearl River County personnel brought up two 30 kW generators.
Pearl River County Emergency Management Director Danny Manley said his office received a call from the Magee Volunteer Fire Department requesting to borrow a generator.
Manley said he and Poplarville Fire Chief Kris Fosterhauled those generators to the Magee station on Thursday afternoon and the Magee Fire Chief expressed his appreciation, both to Manley and Foster and also the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors and City of Poplarville officials. Those generators will power the volunteer fire station, Manley said.
News reports on the Magee Courier website state that the tornado struck the area at about 1:40 a.m. Thursday and did damage to about 10 miles of Simpson County. Manley said one of the area’s water towers was hit during the storm and the area will be on a boil water notice for some time.
The fire departments in the area were up all night searching for people. Manley said that while there were several injuries, there were no reported fatalities. One reported injury may have saved a woman’s life. The woman was told by a firefighter to leave her home during the storm, which she did just before the storm hit it. When the woman left her home, she was hit by flying debris and required 17 staples to treat the wound. However, when the storm hit her trailer, the trailer was destroyed.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with these guys. They’re going to be without power for a long time,” Manley said.