The heat advisory is the main concern for Coahoma County residents following the storms on Sunday night that led to several homes being without power. While power has been restored in most of the homes, some residents are still without power as of Thursday and are able to use the cooling stations at the Coahoma County Expo Center on Wildcat Drive in Clarksdale and the Clarksdale Civic Auditorium on East Second Street. Both cooling centers are currently open 24 hours.
“The most important thing now is being aware of the extreme heat we’re under, the heat advisory,” said Coahoma County Emergency Management Agency Director Charles Hale. “We want to caution citizens that if you do not have power, we do have the cooling stations.”
Hale encouraged everyone to use the cooling centers. “Feel free to take advantage of that and get out of the heat,” he said. “That’s the main thing we’re focusing on now while the electric companies and power companies are still restoring power.”
Hale did not know how many days the cooling centers would be available, but Coahoma County is still in a state of emergency. “There is no timetable,” he said. “All we know is they’re working diligently to get the power back on. We don’t know the problems they’re facing and all that nature. We’re going to make a day-by-day assessment on what the plan is to keep those open.”
Hale is still looking at the damage homes received from the storm. “We’re still currently doing assessments,” he said. “As of today (Thursday morning), we have done 29 assessments throughout the county. The Coahoma County Road Department has cleared a lot of the roadways. We are now beginning to pick up the extra limbs and other debris.”
Anyone who needs damage assessment done on their home may contact Coahoma County Emergency Management at (662) 624-3041.
