SATARTIA, Miss. (WJTV) – It’s been five days since a major gas leak in Yazoo County sent a whole town fleeing their homes.
Throughout the week most have been treated and virtually everyone is back in their homes, but the burden has not gone away.
The air around the town of Satartia has gone back to normal making it safe to travel through and settle in your home. But for certain people, the effects from the CO2 still linger.
One of the closest to highway three, the Douglas family home was hit hard by the carbon dioxide leak but feels they were one of the last to get out.
“My wife had brought the dogs out to use the bathroom before we go to bed,” Larry Douglas told us. “The dogs come back in, but she didn’t come back in. She was later up against the porch, she couldn’t breathe. I called the Sheriff’s Department and they told me we had a gas leak.”
Though they didn’t require treatment in the hospital, since moving back on Sunday Larry and his wife have found themselves coughing frequently and ill.
“Been sick to our stomach, can’t eat, have no appetite, having headaches,” Douglas expressed. “We were sitting at the table eating supper the other night and I looked over at her she had blood running down her nose.”
While the company Denbury has shut off the pipe and begin the repair process, the Douglas’ and others have trouble settling back in fearing an accident could happen again.
“We listen and watch TV, but cut the TV off and see where the sounds coming from,” Douglas said. “When it was blowing out up there it sounded like a train. The least little noise, you wonder what it is”
Across town, we spoke to longtime Satartia homeowner Ross Nesbit who isn’t as worried or feeling after effects but knows without heroic first responders and company personnel it could have been worse.
“Denbury Oil Company had men here that they sent quickly as soon as they found out about it,” Nesbit said. “They checked every room in the house including the closets to make sure there were no gas pockets anywhere.”
All this week Denbury has been meeting with people affected in Satartia to answer questions and take complaints. So far those we spoke to said the company has agreed to pay for all medical expenses.
