RV park residents recall the moment when the waters started rising

STONE COUNTY, MS (WLOX) - The Red Creek in Stone County is slowing starting to recede but 24 hours ago, that was not the case. Torrential weekend rains made the creek rise to levels never before seen, leaving many people who call the Perk Beach RV Park home scrambling for safety.

At Perk Beach, a bridge that is usually over water is now underwater. For now, a boat is the only way to get around. No one living here thought the water would rise that quickly.

“Pretty scary. The water came up like in 45 minutes or an hour," recalled resident Delvin Delaune. "It didn’t take long for it to come high and we just started trying to get people out.”

Even when people took steps to save their property, it didn’t matter.

“I had my RV in the back to start with," said Tony Ecroyd. "They told me to move it up here, it wouldn’t flood up here. So I moved it up here and it flooded.”

With the angry Red Creek on the move, there wasn’t anywhere to go for Joe Carroll, who said no one expected the water to get so high.

“The water wasn’t going to get as high as it was, so we stayed and it got too high and flooded us out and we were just stranded," he said.

During the height of the flooding, young heroes emerged, jumping in a boat to help Joe and others trapped by the rising river in the water-filled RV park.

“I had the fear of going back there and not knowing that my Dad was alive or if anybody back there was alive," said Kristin Carroll. "Like I don’t know how grateful I am to know that we found so many people back there.”

And those that were back there, including Tony, recall the moments of doubt as Mother Nature unleashed her fury. “It was kind of scary. Couldn’t get out. I went and brought that boat and everything trying to get everybody else up out of here.”

Several roads in Stone County near Red Creek were also closed for several hours Monday, including busy Highway 15. Most of those roads have now re-opened.

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