Residents flee severe flooding in capital area
PEARL, Miss. — Water continued to rise and spread in Mississippi on Sunday in what threatened to be one of the most severe floods in decades to hit the central part of the state. Officials warned residents to clear out, because the worst of the flooding was still to come.
“We do not anticipate this situation ending anytime soon,” Gov. Tate Reeves said Sunday at a state emergency operations center just outside of Jackson. “It will be days before we are out of the woods and the water starts to recede.”
The governor repeated a plea that he and other officials starting making as soon as the gravity of the flooding became clear: “Protect yourself and protect your family.”
Water levels did not rise as quickly overnight as officials had anticipated. Still, law enforcement officers were going door to door, repeating in person the call to leave. Sandbags were distributed by the thousands, and rescue crews with boats and highwater vehicles were standing by on Sunday to rescue anyone who became stranded.
The swollen Pearl River has already spilled into parts of Jackson, the state capital, and other communities along its banks. Forecasters expected the floodwaters to continue flowing outward, threatening a broader swath of the area, including the heart of the state government in downtown Jackson.
The river is rising so high because a reservoir just upstream has been filled to capacity by days of torrential rain. Officials at the Barnett Reservoir, a 33,000acre lake northeast of Jackson, said they had to open its spillway Saturday night to release water into the river when the reservoir exceeded its capacity. As a result, officials have projected that the river by Monday would crest as high as 37.5 feet — almost 10 feet above flood stage.
Officials said the lake stabilized overnight, allowing them to release less total water than they had originally expected.
Officials estimated that more than 2,400 structures would be affected by the flooding — most of them in Hinds County, which includes Jackson, but also some in neighboring Rankin and Madison counties.
The Pearl River has not reached 38 feet since devastating floods in 1983 and 1979, two of the worst to hit the central part of the state in recent history. The 1979 event set the record, with the river cresting at 43 feet, submerging a large area of Jackson, including downtown.
The new flood has created yet another test for Reeves, the Republican who took office as governor just over a month ago and has already faced a spell of destructive weather.