South Mississippi preparing for tropical weather this weekend

PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (WLOX) - With lots of rain expected this weekend, many are heeding the warning by local officials and making preparations. For most people in South Mississippi, it’s just a part of living on the Gulf Coast and something they are familiar with doing every hurricane season.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm warning for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The warning extends from Intracoastal City, La., to the Alabama-Florida border.

On Thursday, people were out across the coast filling up sandbags to help protect their properties from flooding.

“I loaded up a bunch of sand and I am going to put them around my pens, that way my dogs aren’t in knee high water,” said Hancock County resident Michael Fahey.

Those in low-lying areas aren’t the only ones making preparations. Boaters were at harbors shoring up their prized possessions with precautionary measures.

“Anytime there is any kind of tropical depression or bad weather, we come down and check our lines,” said boat owner Tom Stokes. “(It’s) precautionary. Sometimes we put a double line on the post for storms. If it is a bad storm, we are going to have to leave the harbor.”

Stokes stressed that this just a part of life here in South Mississippi, and anyone who owns a boat should have their vessel secured by the time the wind and rain pick up.

“Everybody has been down here already doing this sort of thing,” he said.

Due to the unorganized nature of this tropical system, it is difficult at this time to say which counties will see the most rainfall, but county officials say they are prepared.

Jackson County Emergency Management Agency Director Earl Etheridge says his team is keeping a close eye on many neighborhoods throughout Jackson County, especially those that historically flood during heavy rainfall.

Like Harrison and Hancock counties, Etheridge said Jackson County agencies will also be on standby with water rescue boats and high-water rescue trucks in case anyone needs help.

For the latest forecast on the tropical weather, click here.

MORE INFORMATION: List of sandbag locations across the Coast

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