A lightning strike on August 6 splintered an oak tree in the courthouse lawn. The tree was cut down the following week. – Photo by Emily Childs
WATER VALLEY – A towering landmark in the courthouse lawn in Water Valley was cut after lightning struck it Sunday, August 6. The oak tree was struck around noon and Brother Dan Dickerson was among the first to post of a picture of the tree on social media showing the scalped bark.
Courthouse employee Emily Childs reported that the strike damaged the tree from almost the top to bottom and splinters traveled across the courthouse lawn.
“A lady who lives up the street came in Wednesday and said the impact was extremely loud,” Childs said. Others across town also reported hearing the loud boom around the lightning strike.
The strike also fried an internet server inside the courthouse, the only reported electronic damage. The internet was back up and going around noon the following day.
Yalobusha County Tax Assessor/Collector Linda Shuffield is the longest serving employee at the courthouse and recalled the tree seemed about the same size when she started to work for the county.
“I have been here 46 years, that tree is the only thing older than me around here except the building,” Shuffield joked.
Noel Alan Rogers cut down the tree and county workers hauled it away.
“We hated to see it go,” Childs said.
