Schools closed and local officials made plans on how to respond to Francine as the tropical storm that’s expected to become a hurricane and track right over Southwest Mississippi loomed in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday.
Pike County and McComb officials met via conference call Tuesday afternoon with the National Weather Service to be briefed on what to expect in the coming days.
According to the NWS, Francine is continuing to move slowly to the north-northeast. It was expected to strengthen into a hurricane Tuesday, and all of the previous watches have been upgraded to warnings.
Pike, Amite, Walthall and Wilkinson counties were placed under a tropical storm warning Tuesday as Francine’s predicted path continued to track further to the east, placing the area in the way of a storm capable of producing 4-8 inches of rain and 58-73 mph winds, according to forecasters.
Francine is expected to make landfall on the central Louisiana coastline Wednesday evening, but it will be noticed much sooner.
“We should start feeling significant winds late in the afternoon, possibly after 2 p.m.,” Pike County Civil Defense Director Tina Reed said. “We expect a lot of trees down and to be tangled up in power lines. It could potentially be rough with Francine shifting to the east. It could end up moving further east, or shift back west. Right now, no one knows for sure.”
Forecasters predicted Francine’s center would move into Mississippi on Wednesday night or Thursday.
As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, the storm was about 380 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana. Its maximum sustained winds held steady at 65 mph, but its approach toward shore had nearly doubled in speed, moving northeast at 9 mph.
McComb Fire Chief Gary McKenzie said last year’s killed trees across the county that could potentially fall with the expected strong wind gusts.
“Remember that we had a sustained drought last year, so there are a lot of dead trees. This storm is likely going to take them out,” McKenzie said. “Make sure to have a heightened awareness along the roads and so forth.”
Reed added that emergency services will be suspended if the winds get above 45 miles per hour.
“It will not be safe for fire trucks to be out. We know that the power companies will not be out, either, if the winds are high,” she said.
Forecasters predicted “major flooding rain” but few tornadoes for the area.
“We are still expecting the impacts to be power outages, downed trees and some damage to mobile homes,” NWS officials said. “As rain bands set up, you could see a lot of rainfall in a short amount of time, especially those that see multiple bands set up over them.”
Meanwhile, some schools announced closures ahead of the storm. Parklane Academy will be closed Wednesday, while North Pike, South Pike and McComb schools will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.
Civil defense officials plan to open the Community Safe Room on Quinlivan Road at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
“We will only be providing chairs and tables. People will need to bring their own comfort items such as pillows, blankets, water, drinks, food, meds, etc. They may bring folding chairs if they wish,” civil defense officials said in a Facebook post.
“It will be for the storm only,” Reed said. “It will not be a shelter for people to stay unless we get hit hard. It will be for people to get out of the weather who do not live in strong structures.”
Reed said residents should be wherever they need to be by mid-afternoon Wednesday, especially if they drive a large vehicle, which could be more susceptible to the effects of strong winds.
NWS officials noted the Mississippi Gulf Coast and lakes area of Louisiana are expected to experience a 3- to 5-foot peak storm surge. Central Louisiana is expected to see a 5- to 10-foot peak storm surge.
Francine is the sixth named storm in the Atlantic.
“We plan to send out updates as soon as we receive them,” Reed said.
