Schools closed across the region and power crews and fire departments battled the elements Friday as Columbia and Marion County saw a record snowfall.
The National Weather Service in Jackson has been keeping records since 1905 and said Friday’s estimated 6 inches in Columbia topped the 5.1 inches received on Dec. 12, 2008.
Snowflakes began falling in the early hours Friday morning and continued until the afternoon. Snow remained on the ground all day but melted away under the sun Saturday.
Marion County Emergency Management Director Aaron Greer said as he took to the roads, he observed various amounts.
“I’ve seen anywhere from two inches to maybe six inches of snow in some areas of the county,” he said Friday.
The Columbia and Marion County school districts both called off classes for Friday on Thursday evening in anticipation of the coming snowstorm.
Kurt Brautigam, manager of member services for the Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association, said as many as 11,000 homes in its 12-county service area lost power. Brautigam said that more than 3,000 of those customers were in Marion County.
“As of noon Sunday, PRVEPA had restored all customers affected by the snowstorm back to service,” he said. “We thank all of our members for their patience during this difficult restoration.”
On Friday, crews from Wiggins joined local crews to work in Marion County, according to Brautigam.
“Nearly all of the outages were small and scattered, unfortunately,” he said. “In a normal storm, feeder lines can be restored and re-energize hundreds of members at a time. With this storm, we were primarily working on individual cases, clearing downed trees and limbs off lines to reach members’ service.”
Fire departments had a busy day as limbs falling on power lines created fire hazards. A limb caused a transformer to blow in the 400 block of Church Street shortly after 5 a.m. The Columbia Fire Department responded with crews from Mississippi Power and stood by until 8:36 a.m.
Calls began with a structure fire at 2:29 a.m. that destroyed a home at 1036 Mississippi 43 South. Volunteer firefighters from Pine Burr, South Marion and Foxworth spent several hours battling the blaze and the elements. Greer said later Friday that the residents were not home at the time of the fire. The State Fire Marshal’s Office has been called to determine the cause.
Foxworth firefighters were also called to Old Morgantown Road for reports of trees and limbs down around 9 a.m. The Columbia Fire Department was dispatched to a smoke call on Mississippi 13 North at around 8:40 a.m. and found wires had made contact with limbs. The CFD also responded to a fire alarm at Goody’s and then to a report of a limb down on wires at 806 Beauvoir St. Later, the CFD responded to investigate an electrical fire at a home at 1635 Clearview, but cleared the call quickly.
Drivers found the going tough on Friday as well. The Mississippi Department of Transportation closed the Mississippi 44 bridge over the Pearl River Friday and it remained closed until Saturday, when conditions improved. In neighboring Walthall County, a curfew was put into place to keep motorists off the roads overnight as temperatures plummeted and snow that had thawed refroze, causing icy road conditions.
