911 handled over 1600 calls since Friday at 9 p.m

The Vicksburg Warren E-911 Call Center processed over 1600 calls since Friday between 9 p.m. until today at 3 p.m.

During the same time period for the prior weekend, they processed 575 calls.

The tornado in Rolling Fork was a big part of the issue. Numerous calls came in and were made to organize a relief, rescue and recovery effort. But our call center also took on all the calls for Sharkey County because their system went down.

The bulk of those calls, 924 to be exact, were administrative-type from Sharkey that helped to organize the relief effort in Rolling Fork. On Sunday night the thunderstorms further exasperated the situation with dozens of trees and power lines down.

Director of Operations Bobby Rufus complimented his team, saying, “We have a great group of people who love our community and work hard to serve their fellow citizens. They always do a good job but this weekend was extraordinary. I wanted to recognize them for their excellence and effort.”

Rufus called in extra staff to handle the increased load of administrative calls from Sharkey County. “I plugged in also at times,” said Rufus.