Street flooding and power outages reported in South MS after night of severe weather

Mary Perez
·4 min read

South Mississippi saw heavy rain, gusty winds and coastal flooding on Monday and the effects of the storm are expected to extend into Tuesday morning from another line of thunderstorms.

Hancock County Emergency Management reports 125 streets are flooded in parts of the county Monday night, but many remain passable. High tide in Gulfport was at 7 p.m., increasing flooding on the Coast.

Power companies are out restoring service to those customers who lost service. At 6 a.m. Tuesday:

▪ Mississippi Power reports 30 customers without power on the Coast.

▪ Singing River Electric had about 2,300 outages, with about 1,500 in Jackson County and about 800 in George County.

▪ Coast Electric had 69 outages, with 11 in Harrison County, none in Hancock County and 58 in Pearl River County.

The worst of the weather came after dark Monday, with a punch of heavy rain, thunderstorms, tornado warning, gusty winds and coastal flooding. Some power outages are reporter.

Radar shows heavy rain moved across the Coast from about 5-8 p.m. Monday.

Another line of strong thunderstorms followed after midnight, and the tornado watch has been issued until 7 a.m. Tuesday.

South Mississippi is under these advisories issued by the National Weather Service in New Orleans:

▪ Wind advisory from 3 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday

▪ Coastal flood advisory until noon Tuesday

The forecast

“Two waves are possible, one in the afternoon/evening from a warm front racing northeast over the area, and the second with the front approaching the area delivering a line of severe storms overnight,” according to the National Weather Service in New Orleans.

Threat — Damaging winds and large hail are all possible, and there’s a chance of tornadoes.

Winds — will increase during the day Monday, with south winds 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 50 mph expected. The strongest winds will be close to marine areas, the NWS said.

Rain — 3-5 inches of rain is expected across South Mississippi. The rain will help drought conditions over part of the Coast. Hancock County and the western part of Harrison County are rated “abnormaly dry,” while Jackson County and the eastern portion of Harrison County are not in a drought.

Flooding —is expected in areas that normally flood during heavy rain

Schools close early

Some school districts and city offices announced early closings Monday, ahead of the storm, but expect to reopen on schedule Tuesday.

▪ Bay Waveland dismissed all schools early to ensure all bus runs are complete before closing the buildings at 1 p.m.

▪ Gulfport School District will remain open Monday. Basketball games have been rescheduled for Wednesday. After school care will remain open and will have regular hours, but everyone is encouraged to pick up as early as possible. The school board will meet at 5 p.m. Monday.

▪ Hancock County will dismiss elementary students at 11:30 a.m. and middle and high school students at 12:30 p.m. Monday.

▪ Long Beach canceled after school activities and children must be picked up from after school care no later than 3:30 p.m.

▪ Mississippi Gulf Cost Community College campuses and centers will close at 2 p.m. Monday and will reopen for normal hours Tuesday.

▪ Moss Point School District canceled all after school activities for Monday, including Boys and Girls Club. The Magnolia Middle School basketball Championship game has been postponed until 5 p.m. Thursday.

▪ Ocean Springs School District canceled Monday after school activities.

▪ Pascagoula-Gautier School District canceled Monday after school activities.

▪ Pass Christian School District canceled after school activities for Monday and pre-K after care closes at 3:30 p.m.

▪ Pearl River, Picayune and Poplarville school districts also announced early dismissal as the weather system approaches.

Government offices also closing

Many government offices and businesses closed early Monday ahead of any severe weather and to be with their children when schools let out early:

▪ All government offices in Hancock County and the cities of Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead and Waveland closed at 12:30 p.m. Monday, except for emergency and essential personnel. Operations will resume as normal on Tuesday.

▪ Gautier administrative offices closed at 1 p.m.

▪ Moss Point administrative, municipal court and utility department closed at 2 p.m.

▪ Ocean Springs city offices closed at 1:30 p.m.

▪ Pascagoula is closing city offices at 4 p.m.