George County still digging out one week after Hurricane Zeta

LUCEDALE, Miss. (WLOX) - A week after Hurricane Zeta rammed its way through, George County is still digging its way out.

Parts of downtown Lucedale are still a mess, and homeowners are just now coming to grips with the thousands of dollars in damage.

Honeybees Floral & More on Frontage Street in downtown Lucedale was among at least six businesses knocked to its knees by Hurricane Zeta.

“I’m still emotional,” said owner Angelia Reeves. “I still can’t get all the thoughts in. I just have a lot of mixed emotions about stuff. I mean, I don’t know if there is a silver lining in it.”

Winds opened up the roof and destroyed much of the store’s inventory. The back of the building is a dumping ground of parts from other businesses.

Reeves was shocked, and her initial reaction?

“Oh, my God. I’ve lost everything I’ve worked so hard for,” Reeves said. “But, then I got to thinking, the Lord is so good, because we, our lives are saved.”

She said business will reopen in the front of the building this week because of homecoming.

“I will do what I have to do because I’m not ready to give this job up,” Reeves said. “It’s my life. I love it. It’s something I love, my girls love. I feel like we do something for the community.”

Hurricane Zeta not only damaged businesses, but it also damaged homes.

Marsha Peters' home got a double whack from nearby trees. Now, she has two unwelcome skylights on one side of her house.

“It was dark, so you couldn’t really see what had hit the house,” Peters said. “You just knew you had trees in your bedroom and bathroom. I was physically just shaking. Couldn’t get my composure.”

Lucedale Mayor Darwin Nelson said about 75% of all the buildings within the city had some kind of damage. Nelson added that there is assessment ongoing in hopes that FEMA will soon declare the county a disaster area.

“We had a lot of wind come through George County, and I don’t know of if the entire state knows just how hard we got hit,” Nelson said. “We’re not looking for sympathy or anything like that. But we did not get spared in Hurricane Zeta, that’s for sure.”

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