The remnants of tropical storm Olga brought record rain and high winds to Newton County Saturday, toppling trees and leaving thousands of residents without power.
Mississippi Department of Transportation announced maintenance supervisor Jason Boyd was killed Saturday in an accident while clearing fallen trees brought down by Olga from Highway 489.
“We’re asking everyone to keep the Boyd family in your thoughts and prayers as we seek comfort and healing for all touched by this tragic loss,” said Melinda McGrath, P.E., MDOT Executive Director. “Jason served the state with distinction for over 12 years. MDOT frontline workers like Jason are often the first responders as they work to clear trees from our roadways following severe weather.”
As MDOT and first responders throughout the county worked to clear roadways, lineman crews with Southern Pine and Central Electric Power Association also headed out to restore power to more than 20,000 customers.
Leif Munkel, communication coordinator for Southern Pine said high winds and fallen trees from Olga disrupted power to 21,000 customers on the Southern Pine grid. Repair crews worked from dawn to dusk Saturday and Sunday cutting trees and repairing lines, however, Munkel said it could be several days before power could be restored to all customers.
As of noon Monday, power had been restored to all but 2,300 customers throughout the Southern Pine service area.
Saturday’s storm also forced the cancellation of several weekend events. American Legion Post 89 announced Friday afternoon the benefit golf tournament scheduled for the weekend would be cancelled due to the storm, and the Town of Sebastopol cancelled plans for its annual Sebastopolooza Fall Festival.
Saturday morning, Sebastopolooza 5k and Fun Run race director Michael Weaver was forced to cancel the race after downed trees and limbs blocked off large sections of the course.
“We’ve lost most of our course support and have multiple limbs down in the first mile,” Weaver told runners waiting inside the Sebastopol Fire Station. “It’d take a lot of work to clear the course. I wanted to have a run in the rain, but I don’t think we have a choice.”
Approximately 75 runners, walker and joggers were registered for this year’s race, including last year’s overall winner, Ffion Price, from Wales, who returned to defend her title, and Sebastopol Mayor Greg McGarrity.
Weaver said all those who registered should contact the Town of Sebastopol for a refund.
