Powerball surges to $1.5B after no winners Wednesday night

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WBRC) - The Powerball jackpot just got bigger in a very big way. Since no one won last night, the pot swelled to around $1.5 billion dollars, and you can bet more and more people are taking a chance at the big prize. Many of them traveled to either Georgia or Mississippi to buy their tickets.

As the day progressed, more and more people stopped to buy their gas and their lottery tickets at the Shell gas station located just over the Alabama state line.

Starting at 11 a.m. on Thursday, it got busy inside, one customer after another taking a chance to win it all on Saturday, knowing the odds are not in their favor - not by a long shot.

We came across West Alabamians such as Donald Hodge, Tonyia Wallace, and Felicia Quick, who couldn’t pass the chance of winning something. All were asked if they won it, what in the world would they do with hundreds of millions of dollars they’d get after taxes?

“It’s an astronomical chance of winning, but if you don’t play at all, you don’t have a chance at all. I figured I’d give it a try. It’s just an astronomical amount of money - never had that much in my life. I’d have to sit down and think about it,” said Hodge of Pickens County, Alabama.

“No, I haven’t it. Haven’t thought about it. No, I haven’t,” said Quick, another West Alabamian.

“Move. Help my family, so much I would be able to do with it,” said Wallace of Gordo, Alabama.

“I would have a select few people - I would make their lives better. I would give some to charity - worthwhile charity at that,” said Gregory Harrison of Georgia.

The next drawing is set for Saturday night.

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