Storms sweep through South; 5 killed
JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi woman who desperately tried to direct rescuers to her sinking vehicle after it skidded into a rain-swollen creek was among five people killed in storms across the South.
Jacqueline Williams, 52, was running a newspaper delivery route when her car slid off a road into a creek in her hometown of Florence before dawn Monday, authorities said. She dialed 911 from the car as it went down, said Rankin County Coroner David Ruth.
Ruth said Williams was trying to relay her location to a dispatcher as the car settled into the swirling waters. “She was trying to tell the dispatcher where she was, and she could actually hear the sirens,” Ruth said.
The two lost contact, and Ruth said a swift-water recovery team later found Williams’ body in the creek outside the car.