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Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Jackson County to close some schools early for Ida

PASCASGOULA — All schools in Jackson County except Ocean Springs School District will let out early today in an effort to ensure school buses are off the roads by the time winds from Ida begin to reach tropical storm force.

Ida, which was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm this morning, is expected to hit Mobile early Tuesday morning, but winds of up to 40 mph are expected in Jackson County by 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. today.

Both the governor and Jackson County Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency in advance of the storm.

Emergency Management Director Donald Langham called for voluntary evacuation of low-lying areas of the county, and county road crews are offering sand bag equipment at locations in east, central and west Jackson County.

Langham told county leaders late this morning that winds from Ida are predicted to reach sustained speeds of up to 65 mph by 7 p.m. and last for eight to 10 hours.

“We’re looking at an all-night wind event,” Langham told the Board of Supervisors.

He also said that he expects flooding because the storm is pushing a surge of three to four feet into an area that has already seen tides that are one to two feet above normal. There is also predicted to be two to four inches of rain with Ida.

Langham is predicting seas a total of five feet above normal.

Landfall for the storm is expected to be at Mobile between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Tuesday, not long after high tide, Langham said.

He said that under these conditions, water from Ida likely will not run off quickly and any flooding likely will not recede until midday Tuesday.

Langham recommended schools close at 1 p.m. and passed his recommendation on the state Department of Education, but each of the four school districts in the county made independent decisions based on this recommendation.

The Red Cross and the county will open an emergency shelter at the Gautier Convention Center at 1 p.m. All who plan to use this shelter are asked to bring medication, sleeping gear and a change of clothes. It is located east of the MGCCC campus in Gautier.

Northorp Grumman’s Ingalls shipyard has canceled second and third shifts for all personnel except those who are informed otherwise by their supervisors. Work will resume with the first shift on Tuesday.

All branches of the Jackson-George Regional Library System in Jackson County will close at 5 p.m. today. Ocean Springs Harbor has been closed to all transient boat traffic and is expected to be closed to all boat traffic by late afternoon.

Langham told county leaders that the National Guard is ready with Humvees and high-water vehicles to help if any late evacuations are needed with residential flooding.

Langham said wind shears tore into Ida and caused the hurricane to be down-graded to a tropical storm. But in doing that, Langham said, the storm became a bigger problem because the wind field expanded, creating the prediction of higher and more prolonged winds earlier in the day today.

All schools except Ocean Springs will let out about an hour earlier than the normal schedule. Ocean Srings schools will resume the normal schedule for release on Monday. Most schools said they expect to resume normal operation on Tuesday.