LIVINGSTON-Like the rest of the Black Belt, Sumter County was able to avoid disastrous consequences from the passage of Hurricane Dennis Sunday night. Throughout the county and in the City of Livingston the only major damage that occurred was the loss of the roof over the pumping stations at the Livingston Pump and Save gas station.

Sumter County Engineer Anthony Creer said after evaluating county roads the damage was far less than what had been expected.

“I am pleased to report that Dennis has passed and we don’t have the damage that we had expected,” Creer said. “There may be some isolated roads out there that have trees blocking the path, but the only ones we are aware of right now are locations where you might have power lines entwined with the tree.”

Down trees and closed roads was the extent of the damage for the county. Creer said the county would stay busy making sure the debris was cleaned up.

“It will probably be another few days before we will be able to open those roads up,” Creer said. “We will clean up the right of way at those spots. We will spend a few days cleaning that up.”

Commissioner Ronnie Beard saluted Creer and his men for their hard work. Beard said county workers were making a difference before many people had even gotten out of bed.

“I would like to commend Mr. Creer and his workers for what they have done,” Beard said. “They were out cleaning up before 8:30 a.m. and we appreciate what they have done.”

The City of Livingston was also one of the lucky municipalities in the area to record little damage. Livingston Mayor Tom Tartt said conditions were not the best they had been, but things could have been a lot worse.

“We had some very rough weather yesterday and through the night,” Tartt said. “We were very fortunate to have escaped with little damage.”

Tartt said when the news of possible dangerous conditions arrived a plan was put in place. He said they carried the plan through and in the end everything worked out.

“We were prepared for it,” Tartt said. “We had a plan in place and executed it and we really dodged a bullet.”