It’s beautiful to see people helping others
Our area has suffered this past week from the ice storm that traveled across Texas, Tennessee, and our communities in northern Mississippi. Many Marshall county and Holly Springs families did without power for a week. But with the help of our County Supervisors proclaiming a state of emergency, help was on the way.
Monday morning, Jan. 30, our county was under a winter storm warning and as soon as Tuesday night families were left without power. Tree limbs and utility lines were heavy with ice and utility poles were damaged. Sleet fell and covered everything in sight. By Wednesday morning the majority of the county was without power. A handful of my co-workers lost power on Tuesday but by Wednesday everyone in my office had lost power. I was so thankful I still had power. Wednesday night I worried a lot. All throughout the night I heard tree limbs cracking and then crashing, falling to the ground. By Thursday morning, my power was out too. It was a huge mess.
Thursday, Walmart and all the restaurants on Craft Street lost their power. With that, the effects of going without power for days started to pile up and seemed endless. Luckily, downtown Coffee in Holly had electricity, so it was a good place for many to get warm and have a warm meal. I met Ken and Leslie Cardelli, who stopped by the coffee shop to warm up and get some coffee. I also met Brandi Michel and her daughter, Emma, from Mt. Pleasant, who drove into Holly Springs to find a place to get warm and grab a bite to eat. Emma also brought her bearded dragon, Draco, because the house was getting too cold for him to survive.
Friday morning, the Marshall County Board of Supervisors signed a proclamation requesting Governor Tate Reeves proclaim the district a state of emergency. This move got the ball rolling to help get the utilities back on throughout the county by bringing in Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and several other utility companies to help get the heat back into the homes.
The mayor of Holly Springs, Sharon Gipson, announced that the Eddie Smith Multi-Purpose Center would be opened as a warming center. Food and blankets were available too.
The community started coming together by Saturday morning as several volunteer groups worked on ways to feed the community since many were still without power. Slayden Baptist church members volunteered to prepare hot box lunches for the area. Sarah Taylor organized a place to drop off prepared hot food for the utility workers at The Apothecary on the square. Many community members and community-minded merchants gave or brought food for the utility workers out in the field, working long hours to get the utilities back on.
I am very thankful for all the utility workers who helped get the Holly Springs and Marshall county utilities up and running. Seeing the people in our county coming together for those suffering from the outage was a beautiful, empowering thing to witness.