It hasn’t quite been 40 days and 40 nights, but it may seem like it. Above average rainfall for the last three months has brought city and county work to a standstill and left many Adams County residents trying to bail themselves out.

The 6.8 inches of rain that fell in Adams County in June was 2.12 inches above normal and more like winter weather than summer, said Marty Pope, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson.

&uot;The weather pattern we are in right now, from everything I’ve been able to glean, we are in a very odd pattern,&uot; Pope said.

And it probably isn’t over yet, Pope said. Patterns may shift next week, but are likely to redevelop into another wet week.

Wet and soggy ground combined with high winds and heavy rains sent two trees crashing into Natchez homes last weekend, created sinkholes throughout the county and contributed to the collapse of a brick wall onto a parked car in the Eola Hotel parking lot.

&uot;Any kind of weak place out there in the city right now is getting exposed because of the significant rainfall we are getting,&uot; City Engineer David Gardner said. &uot;It’s a nagging thing that brings out all the little weak spots that normally don’t show themselves.&uot;

Gardner said the city has had numerous calls of sinkholes occurring in people’s yards and around the city, including one beside the Canal Street sidewalk.

Gardner said city workers assess each call and determine which ones require immediate attention and which ones can be put on a waiting list.

In the county, problems started with four inches of rain that fell within a 24-hour period on Feb. 5. The February damage was $430,000 worth.

Three county areas &045;&045; Greenwood Subdivision, the intersection of Cloverdale and Lower Woodville Road and the Robin’s Lake spillway &045;&045; qualified for assistance through the Emergency Watershed Program. Though the county is yet to hear complaints from June’s rains, Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said he expects to hear something soon.

&uot;Ever since I’ve been on the board that’s always been a major issue here in Adams County because the soil we have is so susceptible to erosion,&uot; Grennell said.

He said many of the complaints the county hears are about private property, which the county cannot touch.

Donald Berry, a resident of the Robin’s Lake area, said nothing has been done to the lake’s drainage since it overflowed in February.

&uot;Little by little this kind of rain is going to wash away at the structure of the dam, and it is just one’s guess as to how long it can take those kind of erosions,&uot; Berry said.

The residents of the lake fear the dam will overflow, washing water into their yards and homes.

The daily rain has also put everything from grass cutting to road construction on hold in the area.

Even though four months of 2004 have seen above normal rainfall, the precipitation rate for the year is right at average, 34.45 inches.

Neighboring areas have seen considerably more rain than Adams County, including 8 to 12 inches in Wilkinson County.

Pope said the part of the state receiving the most rain is from Vicksburg to the northeastern part of the state.