Rain Could be Heavy Later Today; Marginal Risk for Severe Weather

Lafayette County could receive about 3 inches of rain Monday with a cold front moving into the area.

According to the National Weather Service, rain is expected throughout the day with the heaviest of the storms moving in this evening after 5.

Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.

Lafayette County currently has a “marginal” risk for severe weather later in the afternoon and into the evening hours.

Lafayette County Emergency Director Steve Quarles said while the rainfall could be heavy at times today, he said there has been a long enough dry spell to allow the ground to soak up some of the rain since the major rain event over a week ago.

“If we were to get a lot of rain all at once today, we’d be at the same risk as any other day for flash floods, but it wouldn’t be complicated to what happened on June 9,” he said Monday morning.

On June 9, the county saw more than 13 inches of rainfall in a 36-hour period which caused flash floods that flooded roads, toppled trees and damaged roads, culverts and other property.

On Monday, the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors voted to issue a local declaration of emergency. The Board President signed an immediate declaration on June 9. The board fully executed that order Monday.

The board also signed a request to Gov. Tate Reeve to include Lafayette County in the state’s Major Disaster Declaration for Public Assistance that will have to be approved by President Joe Biden.

If approved, Oxford and Lafayette County will be eligible to receive state and federal funds to repair streets, water associations, culverts and damage to public property like mTrade Park and Avent Park. The county did not meet the financial loss threshold to be eligible for individual assistance.