http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0403/13/ma01.html March 13, 2004
1,100-acre lake floods homes near Purvis
No injuries reported; governor declares state of emergency
By Stefanie McGee
Hattiesburg American
Ron Murgatroyd was enjoying a warm, sunny day fishing on Big Bay Lake Friday afternoon when he suddenly noticed ripples in the water and stumps along the shoreline he had never seen before.
Minutes later Murgatroyd's fishing boat was sitting 150 yards from shore on the lake's bottom after the 1,100-acre lake burst through the Big Bay Lake dam.
"It's a sickening feeling to see a gap in a dam like that," said Murgatroyd, 69, of Hattiesburg.
The break about 12:35 sent a torrent of red mud and water through the Greenville community near Purvis, and damaged more than 50 homes.
No deaths or injuries were reported by late Friday. "So far we've been very fortunate," said Lamar Sheriff Danny Rigel.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reported 12 mobile homes destroyed, 53 homes damaged, two barns and three storage buildings damaged and a bridge washed out.
Gov. Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency for Lamar and Marion counties, freeing state resources to assist victims.
The earthen dam had been inspected by a private engineer early Friday morning after reports of leaks, according to Department of Environmental Quality officials. The dam passed the inspection.
Robert Millette, DEQ dam safety inspector, said the Big Bay Lake dam was last inspected by the state in July 2002.
"It started to spew mud from the base and broke apart," said Lamar County Chief Deputy Craig Schmitzer, who arrived minutes after the dam began to crumble.
"I could hear it coming, rushing through the woods. It was an awful sound," said Sue Beech who was nearby when water came pouring across Purvis-Columbia Road.
Rigel surveyed the flooded area by helicopter Friday afternoon. "The only way that I could recognize some of the homes was by their rooftops," he said. "You couldn't see anything else."
Numerous roadways and bridges throughout central Lamar County were blocked off and had to be checked before they could be reopened and residents allowed back in the area. "It would be tragic for a bridge to collapse after we let people back in," Rigel said.
A thick coat of mud covered guard rails, roadways and what was left of road signs along bridges and roadways. Trees were uprooted or bent, along with telephone poles that now arch over roads.
Former Lamar County Supervisor Bill Bishop, whose district in the mid 1990's included the Big Bay Lake development, said he saw flood waters 30 feet deep and a small house washed away on Purvis-Columbia Road shortly after the dam broke.
Some Greenville community residents were allowed back in their homes only a few hours after the flash flood. Few were lucky enough to find their homes the way they had left them earlier that day.
"We stood looking through the woods for two hours to see if our house was still there," said Ross Mills, 18, a student a Purvis High School. Their home was spared.
