PEARL, Miss. (AP) — Large fans hummed noisily Thursday to try to dry out the carpet at The Exchange Church, a day after storms rapidly dumped several inches of rain and pushed water into the one-story brick building in central Mississippi.
Bryant May is lead pastor of the Southern Baptist congregation in the Jackson suburb of Pearl. He said it was the second time in four years the church flooded. The church will conduct online services this weekend, and May said he hopes the building will be in working order soon after that.
“The good news in it is that we have a little bit of experience — that’s good news/bad news — so we have a little bit of a game plan on how to attack it,” May said Thursday.
Weather radar showed heavy rainfall Thursday in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and in the Florida panhandle.
Several flash flood warnings were issued, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation reported water covering highways Thursday from the central part of the state down to the Gulf Coast. Flowing water washed away part of a state highway in rural Newton County, between Jackson and Meridian.