Local emergency management is bracing for the potential of storms later today as the remnants of Hurricane Ida, now a tropical storm, move through the area this afternoon.
“We have our plans in place,” Lowndes County Emergency Management Director Cindy Lawrence said Monday morning. “We are in contact with the National Weather Service and we met Sunday with area agencies — the utility companies, Red Cross, Salvation Army and first responders — to make sure we’re ready if severe weather moves through the area. We have a plan in place, so now it’s just a matter of waiting to see what develops. We’re ready.”
Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Director Kristen Campanella said her office has been watching the weather situation carefully.
“We can expect high winds and the possibility of tornadoes, especially the afternoon through evening,” she said. “Our office has been monitoring the storm since it made landfall and we have been keeping our local officials and first responders informed so they can make preparations.”
The county’s safe room on Lynn Lane will be opened if a tornado watch is issued.
Lawrence said the bad weather is expected to move into the area around 3 p.m.
Some schools cancel, others let out early
The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District announced on its website that all schools (including virtual classes) are closed today while Columbus Municipal School District will release its students early — elementary schools at 11:15 a.m., the middle school at 12:20 p.m. and the high school at 1 p.m. CMSD will announce its plans for Tuesday this afternoon. Lowndes County Schools opened as normal Monday morning, but school superintendent Sam Allison did not respond to requests for information by press time about contingency plans if the weather conditions deteriorated.
Lawrence said if the anticipated storms arrive, EMA will open its command center at the E911 building as well as the county’s storm shelters.
In the meantime, she said residents should monitor weather conditions throughout the day, noting that flooding is often one of the biggest threats associated with the storms.
The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for the Golden Triangle until 7 a.m. Tuesday.
“If you live in low-lying areas, you need to be putting your plans together to evacuate,” Lawrence said. “We’ll open storm shelters if the situation warrants it. Right now, though, the best thing people can do is make their preparations.”
Campanella urged residents to avoid flooded areas and stay off roads after the storms pass through.
“We can’t stress this enough,” she said. “Emergency workers will be in the areas affected and sight-seeing only makes it harder for them to do their jobs. This afternoon is not the day to be outside.”
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