Flooding, 78-mph wind gust, rescues reported as Arthur’s remnants blast South MS
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- Post-Tropical Storm Arthur prompted flooding, strong winds, and rescues in South MS.
- The National Weather Service reported 20 inches of rain over three days in Jackson County.
- A 78 mph gust was measured near the beach off U.S. 49 in Gulfport.
Post-Tropical Storm Arthur brought an early warning of what could be in store for South Mississippi during hurricane season 2026, which started June 1.
Although this season is expected to be less active, it takes only one storm to upend life. Even the remnants of Arthur brought peril Thursday to South Mississippi.
Campers had to be rescued and dangled from trees over normally tame and shallow Mill Creek in the Perkinston community of Stone County. In other areas of the Coast, moisture downed trees; homes and roads flooded, stalling cars that had to be pulled from the water; a wind gust above hurricane strength was measured, and a tree fell on a house, emergency managers and the National Weather Service reported.
“We’re starting to get reports of houses flooding and the water is still rising,” Melanie Wheat of the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency said Thursday afternoon.
NWS meteorologist Megan Williams said a wind gust of 78 miles per hour was reported near U.S. 49 and the beach in Gulfport, with another measured gust of 56 mph in Harrison County.
She said unconfirmed tornadoes also were reported in Hancock and northwest Harrison counties. The NWS will be on the ground in South Mississippi on Friday to survey the damage.
NWS reports South MS rainfall totals
Over the last three days, Williams said, the NWS is reporting the following rain totals:
- 10 inches for Harrison County
- At least 12 inches in Hancock County
- 20 inches in Jackson County
Even with all that rain, Jackson County was just beginning to see bands from Arthur moving in Thursday afternoon, emergency manager Earl Etheridge said.
“We’ve got street flooding from one side of the county to the other,” he said. Etheridge reported flooded roads, a tree down on a house, spotty power outages and houses struck by lightning. He said a flotilla from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office helped rescue motorists stranded on Sangani Boulevard near the normally bustling Promenade shopping center in D’Iberville, including a Harrison County Sheriff’s deputy.
“We didn’t charge him,” Etheridge said, injecting some levity. “Professional courtesy.”
Dramatic water rescue in Perkinston
The flotilla also was dispatched to Stone County, where normally tame Mill Creek overflowed its banks.
Dale McQueen, owner of Mill Creek Campground in Perkinston, said the creek is normally 6 inches deep.
“This was a record flood,” he said. “I don’t think it’s ever been that high at that property.”
McQueen and a friend had already rescued two campers from the rising water on Thursday when they returned a third time. They loaded onto their boat three stranded campers and their pets.
The boat stalled and capsized, leaving the occupants to hang onto trees until they reached water where they could stand. He said probably 12 to 15 campers were staying in the RV park, which includes an apartment building and three cottages.
“Some of them got out on their own,” he said, “and some of them refused until it was too late, and they couldn’t get out.”
Lingering moisture from Arthur could bring afternoon showers over the next few days. What’s left of Arthur is moving off to the north and east, the NWS meteorologist Williams said.
“It doesn’t look anything like what we remotely saw over the last few days,” she said.
