By Brian Livingston
Tropical Storm Ida, who at one time was a Category 2 hurricane, came ashore Tuesday morning on the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coasts bringing with her some gusty winds and heavy rains.
In Meridian and Lauderdale County, the rain and wind didn't amount to much in terms of problems or damage.
"Ida turned more into a typical thunderstorm event for us," said Julie Walker, a spokesperson for East Mississippi Electric Power Association.
Walker said beginning at about 3:30 a.m. sporadic calls began coming in about power outages but overall only about 500 customers were affected by the wind and rain.
"Most of the people who lost power only did so for about an hour," Walker said.
David Sharp, director of the Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency, said rainfall totals reached about an inch and a half in Meridian but in eastern portions of the county, such as in the Daleville area, three inches was recorded.
"But we didn't hear anything about trees down or widespread power outages," Sharp added.
Lauderdale County Fire Service Coordinator, Clarence Butler, said he was not aware of any of the volunteer fire departments being dispatched to clear roads or homes of debris.
"Ida was a non-event," said Bulter. "I'm not going to complain either."
