Floods put Mississippi capital in 'precarious situation'

Source: AP

By ROGELIO V. SOLIS and REBECCA SANTANA

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — With the waters in the Pearl River continuing to rise in and around Mississippi’s capital city and more rain on the way this week, the governor warned residents that it would be days before flood waters start to recede.

Gov. Tate Reeves said Sunday morning that the Pearl would continue to rise throughout the day, and he warned that the state faces a “precarious situation that can turn at any moment.”

In one Jackson neighborhood, residents paddled canoes, kayaks and small fishing boats to check on their houses, giving lifts to other neighbors. Some were able to get inside while others peeked into the windows to see what, if any damage, had been done inside. Outside floodwaters lapped at mailboxes, street signs and cars that had been left in driveways.

In a bit of good news, officials at a reservoir upriver of the capitol said Sunday that water levels in the reservoir had stabilized, allowing them to send less water downriver. The National Weather Service, which had been anticipating the river would crest Sunday at 38 feet, on Sunday slightly reduced that to 37.5 feet. The river is now anticipated to crest Monday.



Jackson, Miss., homeowners use shovels to work their way through Pearl River floodwater in this Jackson, Miss., neighborhood Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. Residents of Jackson braced Sunday for the possibility of catastrophic flooding in and around the Mississippi capital as the Pearl River rose precipitously after days of torrential rain. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)


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