NATCHEZ — A thunderstorm Monday afternoon took down a few trees that pummeled some power lines and even a house. The headaches the storm caused to the tune of more than 500 residents without power, however, offset the adrenaline rush a handful of football players probably received.

Natchez High School junior Decervassia Morgan said her mother had just picked her up from school at approximately 4 p.m. when rain impaired her mother’s visibility and she accidentally drove her Honda into a flooded ditch behind the Natchez High School football field bandstand.

At the same time, a group of Natchez High football players were headed out to the school parking lot after practice was called off due to the rain. Assistant Coach Trey Woodard said the players were right behind the Honda and a truck that also got stuck in the ditch, so the players took the matter into their own hands, or full body strength.

“I was terrified,” Morgan said.

As the Honda fell in the ditch it took in a few inches of water in the back seat, Morgan said.

She said the players saw the problem and before she or her mother shouted much for help, approximately 10 of the Bulldogs were in the ditch, working to push the car back on the road out of the water.

Woodard said the ditch always fills up quickly with heavy rain, making it difficult to determine where the ditch starts and the lot ends.

Morgan said the players couldn’t get the car out of the ditch from the back, so they tried pushing it from the front then successfully pushed the Honda and then the truck safely out of the water-filled ditch in less than 15 minutes.

Morgan said she knew some of the players who saved them before a bad situation grew worse.

“I told them ‘thank you so much,’” Morgan said.

Emergency Management Director Stan Owens said he recorded wind gusts up to 33 miles per hour during the storm.

Owens said a tree struck a house on Pineview Circle and responders answered a few calls of trees down in roadways.

Entergy Customer Service Manager Tim Runnels said at the storm’s peak more than 500 customers were without electricity, mainly because of downed power lines struck by tree limbs.

The largest numbers of outages were reported in areas near Old Washington Road, Lower Woodville Road, Morgantown Road, Beau Pré Road and Melrose-Montebello Parkway. Remaining outages were scattered Around Adams County, Runnels said.

Runnels said he expected Entergy employees, including crews from McComb and Brookhaven, would work into the night Monday to repair problems on Lower Woodville Road.

The National Weather Service reports that strong thunderstorms are possible Tuesday through Sunday.

Severe weather risks today include likeliness of heavy rainfall, wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour and quarter to golf-ball size hail. Tonight through Sunday the NWS predicts a few strong to severe thunderstorms as a cold front enters the area.