An Interview with Jeanette Prince March 27, 1980 Interviewed by Dina Plunket MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY Post Office Box 571 Jackson., Mississippi 39205
AU 520 OH 1979.08.21 MHSOHP 1-20 Interviewee: Interviewer: Title: Collection Title: Scope Note: Prince, Jeanette Plunket, Dina An interview with Jeanette Prince, March 27, 1980 / interviewed by Dina Plunket Murrah High School Advanced History Class Oral History Project, Easter Flood of 1979 Murrah High School students, with assistance from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, conducted oral history interviews with local citizens about the Easter Flood of 1979. The interviews were conducted during the 1979-1980 school year.
1 AU 520 This is March 27, 1980, my name is Dina Plunket and I will be interviewing Jeanette Prince. When you first heard about the flash flood warning, did you pay any attention to it? Not really. We didn't really think about it, because it wasn't usually our area that was flooded, but a little ways down from us and so we thought, you know, it will just be like the times before, but we didn't know it was going to be real heavy in our house. Where were you when the serious threat began? We were at home. We didn't know, you know, it was going to be a serious threat until we were listening to the radio and to the TV and Dale Danks comes on to the television with this special report and says, the streets that will be effected and the houses that will be effected, and that's when we heard, that, you know, our street was going to get flooded, and that's when we started worrying and that's when we realized it was really a threat. Did you do what you regularly do or did you sit at home and wait? Well, before the bulletin, we didn't really do much of anything, because we really didn't think it was going to affect us again. So we, well, my brother had to go help stack up furniture for the (inaudible) where it usually floods. Other than that, we didn't really do anything to help our house or get anything out. What were you thinking as the waters got closer to your house? Well, as the waters came up our back yard, we began to worry a whole bunch, because it had never come that close to the house before, and we sort of knew that something had to be more serious than the other times when it flooded, so we still didn't realize it would be a lot of water, but we did begin to worry a little. How much time did you have to get out of your house? When were you warned? We were warned at about eight o'clock on that Friday night after the bulletin and we got out of the house at about 11 o'clock that night so we only had about three hours to prepare. How did you find out you had to evacuate? I think the main thing that made us aware that we had to evacuate was the
2 bulletin by Danks, but we also went up the street and looked around the corner and we could see the water was real high in the street and you know, it was sort of gushing, so that's when we really thought we had to evacuate, so we did. What did you do to prepare your house for the waters? Not knowing it would be a lot of water in the house, we were sort of like fools. We stacked the furniture on concrete blocks because we were thinking that only the carpet would get wet and we'd have to pull that out, but when we stacked the furniture up on the concrete blocks, we didn't know it would be a lot of water, and that the stacking the furniture on concrete blocks would make everything worse, because after the water came into the house and then out of the house, the furnitures were put in such a way that they would tumble all over the place and knock out windows and everything which wouldn't have happened if we wouldn't have stacked that. Were you able to get anything out of your house? Or did you try? No, we didn't get anything at all out because, you know, we didn't think it would get high again, but, we didn't even manage to get our clothes out. We got maybe an extra pair of clothes or something because we thought we'd be in the next day pulling out the carpet and getting new carpet in and be in the house within a week or less so we didn't get anything out. Where did you go after you left your home? Okay, after we got out, which, we didn't drive out ourselves, the neighbor had to drive us out. He was a professional truck driver. He knew how to drive out into the water. So, after that we went to a hotel and we stayed there for about five days I think. How much water got into your house? We had about seven feet, which was really about a foot from the ceiling. How long was it before all of the water was out of your house? After we moved out, we'd always check up to see how high the water was, if it had gotten down any, but the first time we realized it was out of our house was about a week later on that Saturday, the next Saturday. How did you get to your house to check and see if there was still water in it?
3 The times we went when there was still water in it, just to see, you know, how it was doing, we went to a street that was half way flooded. Part of it was and part of it wasn't. And we went down to the part that was flooded, the part that had the water, and we saw the little boats going up and down the street, getting furniture out of the houses and things. And we saw people standing in it like chest deep and waist deep and so we didn't really have any hope for our house when we saw that. Was your house insured for this kind of damage? No, but it will be next time. How long was it before your house was re-done and ready to be moved into? Well, first we got a contractor, and he did as good of a job as he could, I suppose, which wasn't too great, considering he didn't finish his job, you know? Okay, and then, we fixed it up a little ourselves, like paint and things like that, and we moved in on July 1 st, but it wasn't all painted, and it didn't have the carpeting done yet, so when we actually finished it, it was about, probably the beginning of September. Where did you stay during this time? After we left the hotel, we decided to rent an apartment. It was on Frontage Road. And we had to settle on an apartment that didn't have carpet in it, or, you know, didn't have any furniture, but we rented furniture, which was pukey anyway, so the apartment had, well, it was a dump, but it had plumbing problems. One time it rained real hard, my mother was washing her dishes, I mean, not her dishes but her muddy items from the house, and she started feeling something on her feet, so she looked down and she was standing in about two inches of water, and so, we didn't need another flood, and so we wanted to get out of there as quick as possible and so that's why we moved into an unfinished house. Do you feel that officials could have done a better job in evacuation? Yes and no because they didn't really start evacuating until we were under water, I mean, the other people that they did evacuate had about a day or two notice, and so, we didn't even get any notes or any warning until the bulletin, and then they didn't even tell us to evacuate. So, I think they could have done a lot better job in the evacuation, and I hope if it happens again, they'll be better prepared. END OF RECORDING