SEVERE WEATHER Updated Feb. 14, 2020 11:54 AM
Heavy flooding in Jackson, Mississippi, has ushered a state of emergency into the region as the Pearl River threatens to burst past its flood stage in the state capital.
Ridgeland, a city in the Jackson Metropolitan area, also issued mandatory evacuations on Thursday. Ridgeland sits next to the Ross Barnett Reservoir, a reservoir of the Pearl River. Citing the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Jackson, Mayor Gene McGee said he expected the river to continue rising through the weekend and crest at 38 feet on Sunday.
"The city of Ridgeland asks everyone to actively begin vacating their homes promptly and cautiously," the city said on Facebook. "The City will inform residents when it's safe to return to their property."
Several streets in Jackson are also under evacuation orders, and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is sending officers door-to-door to spread the word.
A vehicle sprays water as rain falls in downtown Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, making for cascades of splashed water as traffic drives through. The National Weather Service says minor to moderate flooding is expected from central Mississippi to north Georgia following downpours. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
“They need to be making preparations tonight; they need to be out of here," Ricky Moore, director of the Hinds County Department of Emergency Management, told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Waddell on Thursday. "The reservoir is holding this water off of them, giving us two days for these people to get out. Even at 35 feet, we start having roads affected; you’ll have a couple feet of water on some roads, so they need to be prepared.”
The hydrologic river forecast from the NWS originally called for the Pearl River to reach 38 feet at Jackson. According to the NWS expected flood impacts, reaching 38 feet would mean that a "large number of homes are flooded in Northeast Jackson and water is in some buildings in downtown Jackson." At 34 feet, dozens of streets are flooded, and at 35 feet, some businesses are affected near Town Creek while water begins approaching homes in the Hightower Area.
The record crest for the river is 43.28 feet, set in 1979. The river has topped 36 feet only seven times and not once since 1983.
Floodwaters have already begun to approach some residences in areas close to the banks of the Pearl River. (AccuWeather Bill Waddell)
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowksi, reaching that 35-foot mark seems likely. While Sosnowski forecast that a crest near the 38-foot mark seems unlikely, a crest near or perhaps just shy of 36 feet is possible.
"If this estimate is correct, flooding will still occur, but it may not be as extensive as a crest a few feet higher," Sosnowski said.
Residents began filling sandbags and preparing their homes, businesses and churches for the flooding earlier this week after multiple days of heavy rain. By midweek, floodwaters from overflowing streams and creeks began approaching First Pentecostal Church North.
"We're all praying that this thing will subside," Bill Chatham, the church's pastor, told Wadell. "To go back down like it always has, but it's in the Lord's hand."
Floodwaters began to approach the First Pentecostal Church North as church leaders and members pray for protection. (AccuWeather Bill Waddell)
Going into the weekend, dry weather through Saturday may relieve some residents' fears. Sosnowski said that while more storms are expected next week, rainfall is not likely to be as intense as that of recent storms.
"Rainfall totals for all of next week may be in the neighborhood of 1-2 inches," Sosnowski said. "The past 10 days have brought 5-7 inches of rain in the area. The next big, single rain event may hold off until late-February."
By then, Sosnowski said, the Pearl River should be well into recession and could even be below minor flood stage.
But in the short term, officials like Moore are pushing residents to take caution and heed warnings. During the flooding and potentially destructive weekend, Lumumba also urged people to stay out of floodwaters.
"They anticipate it staying up several days," Moore said. "It will probably be a week, according to the reservoir, at the reservoir before we can drop the river level down enough for the residents to even get back in homes to see what kind of damage they’ve got."
Reporting from Mississippi by Bill Waddell.
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