As Tropical Storm Harvey heads back inland, it's unlikely to cause the devastation taking place in Texas, but Mississippi emergency management officials are on high alert. MPB's Desare Frazier reports.
Mississippi Emergency Management officials and Governor Phil Bryant are keeping their eye on Tropical Storm Harvey following a briefing from the National Weather Service. The storm decimated Houston, Texas, when it hit Friday night as a category 4 hurricane. Harvey has moved back into the Gulf of Mexico and expected to return inland by Wednesday. Forecasters say Monday afternoon it appears the storm will head north, northeast through Louisiana to Arkansas with wind speeds of 40 miles per hour. MEMA's Lee Smithson.
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"We should be out of the brunt of Harvey. Our Gulf Coast counties should still expect to see 4 to 6 inches of rain with this system and then southwest Mississippi, specifically Wilkinson County, could see 4 to 6 inches of rain," said Smithson.
Smithson says some areas will see flash flooding because record summer rains have saturated the ground. Governor Phil Bryant says, they'll be watching tides on the Gulf Coast, especially in Picayune around Pearl River County over to the southwest portion of Mississippi. He's urging Mississippians to be patient and not load up a truck headed for Texas.
"The worst thing someone could do would be to find themselves in the second phase of this storm, to be in a flooded area with a large truck full of supplies and unable to return. It would be no electricity. There maybe difficulty in finding additional fuel, finding someplace to stay," said Bryant.
Lee Smithson of MEMA stresses this is the height of hurricane season. He says Texas has a great deal of resources at its disposal. Smithson says it's important for Mississippi to conserve its resources in case a storm hits the state.
