DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. — Residents in Desoto County, Mississippi battled treacherous conditions Wednesday as a third round of harsh winter weather rolled in. The sheer amount of snow surprised a lot of people.
“We expected snow,” Alvin Butler said, “You know, February, late February, it always come around then but like this though?!”
Two to four inches of snow coupled with patches of ice made travel dangerous and, in some areas, impossible. County officials maintained a state of emergency they declared earlier in the week and asked residents to conserve water and energy.
“The roads are getting worse,” Desoto County Board of Supervisors President Mark Gardner said, “We’ve got this second wave of the snow coming through. It’s going to get slick again as the temperature drops back down again tonight and we’re just encouraging folks to stay home unless you absolutely have to get out.”
Herman Dowden got stuck in the snow while driving but quickly escaped thanks to the kindness of strangers.
“They saw my little car wouldn’t go and they stopped, assisted me to get out,” Dowden said, “Thank God! Yes! They didn’t know me. They didn’t know me from Adam.”
Most shops and restaurants were closed all day Wednesday with essential businesses like grocery stores shutting down early Wednesday night.
State, county and city emergency crews plowed roads but they can’t be everywhere at once and it’s hard to fight against such persistent snowfall.
As of about 8:30pm there were only a few reports of power outages.
