A severe thunderstorm that shook the city of Kosciusko and Attala County last Wednesday, June 8, resulted in power outages and damages throughout the area.
Emergency Manager Danny Townsend said the storm was a “summertime blowup” that came unexpectedly.
“A thunderstorm can have winds 70-80 miles per hour,” he said. “And that’s all it was basically, a severe thunderstorm that had high winds in it.”
Townsend said he hasn’t received any official estimates from the National Weather Service, but he estimates that winds reached at least 50-60 miles per hour.
Kosciusko Water and Light crews worked to restore power near Nancy Josey’s home on Poplar Street in Kosciusko.
Landon Gibson / The Star-Herald
“Trees were down, scattered all over the city and county,” he said.
Townsend said trees and power lines were downed in the city limits, the Natchez Trace Parkway, parts of Highway 14 and Highway 12, Old Vaiden Road, Williamsville Road, Attala Road 5210, and Attala Road 1175.
A structure fire also occurred on Highway 14 West.
“We are sort of leaning to it being started by a lightning strike,” he said, “because there was some pretty severe lightning in the area at that particular time. We had numerous power lines down around where those trees were.”
Townsend said he is unsure exactly what caused power outages throughout the city but credited first responders and electricians for working through the storm.
“Apparently, it was a pretty major feeder line because I think the city was without for quite a while,” he said. “But they all got it put back together and got us back on. They did a jam-up job — our electric folks and first responders.”
Kosciusko resident Nancy Josey was in the front bedroom of her house on Poplar Street around 6:30 p.m. last Wednesday night, when she noticed winds started escalating outside.
“I didn’t think anything about it until all of a sudden I heard something go, ‘Clunk!’ said Josey. “I said, ‘Well, I better go see where that tree fell.’ It wasn’t in my backyard. I came to the front, and it was like the whole Earth dropped out in front. This big, monstrous tree was in the front, but it didn’t break my beautiful windows.”
Josey said the wind didn’t scare her, but when she heard the tree fall on top of her house, she began getting slightly nervous.
“When I heard something ‘clunk’ on the top of the house, I just stood still right in the middle of a doorframe and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I hope it doesn’t come down on me.’ I didn’t hear anything else or see anything else come through, so I went to check it out.”
Josey lost power from the damage, and Kosciusko Water and Light crews worked to restore it the next morning.
The tree damaged Josey’s roof, but the inside of her home did not sustain any damage.
“Man, I was just blessed by the day,” she said.
