Category: Regional News

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday night that he is declaring a state of emergency after excessive rainfall exacerbated problems in one of Jackson’s water-treatment plants and caused low water pressure through much of the capital city.

The low pressure raised concerns about firefighting and about people’s ability to take showers or flush toilets.

Reeves said that on Tuesday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency will start distributing both drinking water and non-potable water in the city of 150,000 residents, and the National Guard will be called in to help. The governor said he understands people in Jackson don’t want to have water system problems.

“I get it. I live in the city. It’s not news that I want to hear,” Reeves said. “But we are going to be there for you.”

A swollen Pearl River flooded streets and at least one home in Jackson on Monday, days after storms dumped heavy rain, but water levels were starting to recede. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said the water did not rise as high as expected. Earlier projections showed about 100 to 150 buildings in the Jackson area faced the possibility of flooding.

“We thank the Lord most of all for sparing so many of our residents,” Lumumba said Monday, hours before the governor spoke about the water system.

The National Weather Service said the Pearl River had crested at about 35.4 feet (10.8 meters). That is short of the major flood stage level of 36 feet (10.97 meters).

Jackson has two water-treatment plants, and the larger one is near a reservoir that provides most of the city’s water supply. The reservoir also has a role in flood control.

Lumumba — a Democrat who was not invited to the Republican governor’s news conference — said flooding has created additional problems at the treatment plant, and low water pressure could last a few days.

“What I liken it to is if you were drinking out of a Styrofoam cup, someone puts a hole in the bottom of it, you’re steady trying to fill it while it’s steady running out at the bottom,” Lumumba said.

Jackson has longstanding problems with its water system. A cold snap in 2021 left a significant number of people without running water after pipes froze. Similar problems happened again early this year, on a smaller scale. The city has been under a boil-water notice since late July because tests found a cloudy quality to the water that could lead to health problems.

Legislative leaders reacted with alarm to Jackson’s latest water system problems.

“We have grave concerns for citizens’ health and safety,” Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said in a statement Monday, suggesting the state take a role in trying to solve the issue.

The Republican House speaker, Philip Gunn, said he has been contacted by hospitals, businesses and schools “pleading that something be done to address the water crisis in Jackson.”

As the Pearl River started to rise last week, some Jackson residents started moving furniture and appliances out of their homes, and others stocked up on sandbags. Two years ago, torrential rain caused the river to reach 36.7 feet (11.2 meters) and Jackson homes in the hardest-hit neighborhoods were filled with dirty, snake-infested floodwaters.

Suzannah Thames owns a three-bedroom rental home in northeast Jackson that flooded with about 3 feet (0.9 meter) of water in 2020. Thames hired a crew to move appliances, furniture and other belongings out of the home Friday. She said Monday that the home flooded with about 3 to 4 inches inches (7.6 to 10.2 centimeters) of water late Sunday.

“I thought it was going to be a lot worse,” Thames said. “I feel very fortunate. I feel very blessed.”

Andre Warner, 54, said Monday that his family had put all their furniture up on cinderblocks inside their home to prepare for possible flooding in another northeast Jackson neighborhood.

Warner said the family had to leave home for two weeks during the 2020 flood. Water did not enter their house then, but electricity was off in their neighborhood because other homes were inundated.

“We had to wait for it to drain and dry out for them to cut the grid back on,” Warner said.

The Mississippi flooding was less severe than flooding that caused death and destruction in Kentucky last month. Those floods left at least 39 dead and robbed thousands of families of all of their possessions. Nearly a month later, residents are wrestling with whether to rebuild at the place they call home or to start over somewhere else.

JACKSON, Miss (AP) — The forecasted flooding in Mississippi could not have come at a worse time for Veronique Daniels, who became homeless three months ago and was sleeping on her mother’s back porch in Jackson when she got wind of the impending disaster.

The Red Cross has opened a temporary shelter at the Jackson Police Department Training Academy. As of Sunday afternoon, Daniels was the first person to arrive. She found out about the shelter on Facebook and had her mother drop her off Sunday morning.

Daniels’ mother lives in Canton Club Circle, the same Jackson subdivision that flooded two years ago. Residents on Sunday were taking precautions as the previous flooding loomed large in their memories.

In 2020, days of torrential downpours caused the Pearl River to reach 36.7 feet (11.2 meters) and Jackson homes in the hardest hit neighborhoods were filled with dirty, snake-infested flood water.

Now, experts predict the river will crest at 35.5 feet (10.8 meters) on Monday. The city estimates that 100 to 150 homes could be impacted by Monday night.

“If you are capable of getting out now, get out now. Get out as soon as possible,” said Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba at a news conference Saturday, the same day Mississippi’s governor declared a state of emergency.

Linda Gagliardi, a Red Cross volunteer deployed from Huntsville, Alabama, said she expects an influx of residents Sunday night.

“Our advice is to have a plan and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice,” Gagliardi said. “And I think that’s what people are waiting for, that moment’s notice.”

As Red Cross volunteers helped Daniels finish a load of laundry, she waited for her 18-year-old daughter and an 11-month-old grandson to arrive. They had stayed with friends the previous night, but the family’s long-term plans are up on in the air.

Some Jackson residents were moving belongings out of their homes. Others were stocking up on sandbags. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency had deployed 126,000 sandbags to act as water barriers in preparation for flooding.

Oscar Day, an inventory control worker at a sandbag distribution site, said Jackson residents started preparing their homes for potential flood damage earlier than in 2020.

“A lot of people took the heat last time,” Day told The Associated Press on Sunday, referring to residents who chose not to take precautions two years ago.

The Mississippi floodwaters arrive in the wake of the destruction and death visited upon Kentucky residents last month. Those floods caused at least 39 deaths and robbed thousands of families of all of their possessions. Nearly a month later, residents are wrestling with the question of whether to rebuild at the place they call home or start over somewhere else.

In Jackson, officials have not implemented a mandatory evacuation order but have said residents risk fending for themselves if they choose to stay home.

A Ridgeland police officer patrolling the grounds of the Harbor Pines Mobile Home Community on Sunday estimated that about 20% of the residents had yet to evacuate by Sunday afternoon.

He warned: “If you stay here and you get stranded, we may or may not be able to come rescue you.”

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Heavy rain and flash floods drenched Mississippi, prompting rescue operations, closures and evacuations Wednesday including dozens of residents at a nursing home in the central part of the state.

Rain has pummeled the central and southern parts of the state for the last three days. In statements posted to Twitter, the National Weather Service said flash flood warnings were in effect for several areas from Jackson, the state capital, to Meridian and southward to Laurel and Prentiss, with numerous reports of flooding Wednesday.

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said 42 residents of the Peach Tree Village nursing home in Brandon had been moved to a safe room until conditions improve, WLBT-TV reported.

Courtney Ingle, whose grandmother lives at the nursing home, told The Associated Press she called the facility after her husband saw fire trucks racing in its direction. The call would not connect. When she called her grandmother’s cellphone, a nurse answered and said residents were being evacuated.

Ingle received confirmation about 30 minutes after she first called her grandmother that residents had reached the safe room. She said firefighters and nurses were both involved in the evacuation.

“This is some straight-up local superhero-type stuff,” Ingle said. “What it boils down to is all the stuff they lost is replaceable. The 42 people they rescued are not.”

First responders in the central Mississippi county also said they were working to rescue people from their homes amid Wednesday’s downpour. Tammy Boykin, a Brandon resident, told the news station she had never seen flooding so severe in the eight years she has lived in the area. Bailey said the county had deployed one airboat, two regular rescue boats, and three high water rescue vehicles.

Leaders with the Canton Public School District in neighboring Madison County announced schools would close early Wednesday due to the flooding and impassable roads.

There have also been several car crashes reported, many due to hydroplaning, according to WAPT-TV. A Jackson man told the news station he became stranded after his car stalled on a flooded street. He said he did not realize the road he was driving on was flooded until it was too late. He sat atop his car and waited until first responders arrived.

The Neshoba County Fairgrounds, home to an annual festival and cabins dating back to 1889, was flooded Wednesday morning.

In south Mississippi, heavy rains led to flooding along area rivers, WLOX-TV reported.

The National Weather Service said it expects up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) of additional rainfall in central Mississippi through this evening. The heaviest rainfall has moved off to the east but light rain is still expected, the service said.

JACKSON, Miss (AP) — Mississippi student test scores are exceeding pre-pandemic levels in two subjects after a decline the previous year, according to results released Thursday by the state Department of Education.

The statewide results from the 2021-22 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program show a boost in test scores for English language arts and science. The percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced reached what the department said is an all-time high of 42.2% in English and 55.9% in science. Students scored 47.3% in mathematics, just shy of the pre-pandemic rate of 47.4%.

“The 2021-22 assessment results provide clear and indisputable evidence of the resilience of our students and educators and their ability to recover from the disruptions to learning,” Kim Benton, the interim state superintendent of education, said in a news release

The Mississippi Academic Assessment Program measures student achievement in four subject areas: math, English, science and U.S. history.

In addition to increases among proficient and advanced students, the results also show that about 4% fewer students overall passed math exams this year than in 2019. Overall pass rates in English and science also didn’t reach pre-pandemic levels.