Live updates: Mississippi Coast starts cleanup from Hurricane Zeta, free meals available
Meals available to those in need
The Salvation Army Gulf Coast will be serving meals to those in need beginning at approximately 4 p.m. on Thursday at its Family Store Location.
The store is located at 8405 Hwy 49 S in Gulfport.
Feed the Gulf Coast encourage those in need to use the “Find Help” feature at www.feedingthegulfcoast.org. Individuals can also call (888) 704-FOOD and staff can help connect those seeking assistance with distribution partners closest to them.
Hancock Whitney will be distributing ice on Friday at two locations starting at 9 a.m., 533 Courthouse Road in Gulfport and 601 U.S. 90 in Bay St. Louis. Limit two bags per vehicle: Lunch also available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at both locations for the community while it lasts.
Trash pickup
▪ Waste Management will delay Thursday garbage collection in Harrison County for one day because of heavy Zeta damage to roadways and power outages. Customers with Thursday collection days will have their garbage picked up Friday.
▪ Waste Pro will resume collections Friday. For recycling and customers who get once-a-week garbage collection, Thursday’s route will be picked up on Friday and Friday’s will be picked up on Saturday.
For those that receive twice-a-week garbage collection, Thursday’s route will be skipped. Friday’s route will be picked up Friday and Saturday’s route on Saturday.
Beware of fake contractors
The Mississippi State Board of Contractors is warning Mississippi property owners not to become a victim to scam artists pretending to be legitimate contractors. Owners whose home and other property are damaged are prime targets.
- Be wary of door-to-door repair solicitations and “too-good-to-be-true” bids.
- Check to make sure the contractor is properly licensed. Consumers can verify a license at www.msboc.us, or 800-880-6161 before signing a repair contract or paying any money.
- Don’t pay cash up front or pay the final bill before repairs are properly completed.
“Scam artists come out after severe weather to prey on people anxious to get their property repaired,” said Stephanie Lee, MSBOC Executive Director. “You’ve been a victim of the storm, don’t become a victim to a scam artist.”
Clear debris around mailboxes
The U.S. Postal Service is asking for Coast residents to remove debris around mailboxes and other mail receptacles.
Clean-up piles are debris should well away from mailboxes.
Residents who put mail on hold for 30 days or file a temporary Change of Address due to Hurricane Zeta must replace their damaged mail receptacles. When their mailbox has been replaced, customers must call 800-ASK-USPS (800-275-8777) to reinstate delivery.
Biloxi implements curfew
Biloxi police plans to implement a curfew from 8 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday.
A release from the City of Biloxi says only those who are going to work or have a legitimate reason should be on the road.
Highway 90 passable
U.S. 90 is passable, MDOT says, but crews are still on scene clearing the roadways.
The public is still advised to avoid the beach highway.
“Although these routes are open, please continue to SLOW DOWN and use caution.”
Also, all intersections without functioning traffic lights should be treated as four-way stops. Drivers should stop at all intersections.
Curfew in Gulfport, Harrison County
Gulfport has ordered a curfew of 6 p.m. Thursday until 6 a.m. Friday, while unincorporated areas of Harrison County are under curfew from 6 p.m. Thursday until 5 a.m. Friday.
Zeta damage so far
Hurricane Zeta plowed quickly across the Coast on Wednesday evening, felling trees, flooding neighborhoods and Biloxi casino garages, shoving boats onto the beach highway, drowning at least one person and leaving thousands without power.
A Category 2 storm at landfall Wednesday afternoon in Southeast Louisiana, Zeta barreled into Mississippi with Category 1 winds and wind gusts that hit Category 2, the National Weather Service in New Orleans said.
A 9-foot surge was recorded in Bay St. Louis with a 7-foot surge in Pascagoula, NWS meteorologist Phil Grigsby said. Zeta moved through in a matter of a few hours, dropping only 1.5 to 2 inches of rain along the Mississippi Coast.
The highest wind gust — 104 mph — was recorded at 7:18 p.m. at the Bay-Waveland Yacht Club, Grigsby said. Other strong gusts recorded were 101 mph at 7:57 a.m. in Gulfport, 90 mph at 8 p.m. at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi and 74 mph at 7:48 p.m. at the Port of Pascagoula on Petis Bois Island.
“From a wind perspective, this is definitely the strongest storm you have seen since Hurricane Katrina,” Grigsby said.
Pass Christian Mayor Chip McDermott was surveying damage Thursday morning with the fire department chief. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
The Pass Christian Harbor is torn up. Surge lifted boats onto U.S. 90, which was impassable because of debris. Many residents lost vehicles when their neighborhoods flooded, although homes built at higher elevations after Katrina remained dry.
“We’ve got a mess,” McDermott said, “a total mess. It’s pitiful.”
He said East Second Street overlooking the beach looks like a minefield.
“I’ve never seen so many trees down and the harbor looks like Pearl Harbor,” he said. “It’s sickening. It’s going to take six months to get cleaned up. This is awful.”
Hancock County reports injuries
Brian Adam hasn’t seen a hurricane like Zeta in his 36 years in emergency management, almost 20 of them as director of the Hancock County Emergency Operations Center.
“This is different to me, very different,” Adam said Thursday morning. “It came in fast and hard and got out fast. It’s something I’ve never seen. Even though it got out fast, it created a lot of damage.” Because of impassable roads after Zeta blew through, crews were unable to begin damage assessments until Thursday morning.
Adam said at least two people in a family of four were injured and taken to the hospital when a house slid from its pilings off Harbor Drive in Hancock County.
He said trees and power lines also are down. The roof peeled off a popular cultural and entertainment center, 100 Men Hall.
Beach highway closed
U.S. 90 in Harrison County is covered in sand along the 26-mile sand beach. The highway is closed for cleanup, but that’s not stopping motorists.
“It looks like we’ve got a festival going on,” said Kelly Castleberry, district engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation. “Everybody’s sight-seeing.”
Castleberry said crews hope to have the highway cleared of most sand by nightfall, although parking bays and turn lanes might still have some sand on them. He asked that motorists stay off the highway during cleanup.
Interstate 110 South is closed at the Division Street exit, the Mississippi Highway Patrol says.
Downed power lines also closed a stretch of U.S. 90 in Bay St. Louis.
Flood warnings in force
McDermott and Grigsby urged residents to stay off roads and allow crews to clean up debris and work on restoring power. At least 100,000 customers were without power in Harrison County alone when the storm passed.
A flood warning remains in effect until early Saturday morning for the Wolf River above Gulfport and for the Biloxi River near Lyman, where minor flooding is expected, the NWS says.
Before dawn Thursday, about 1.8 million customers across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia were without power, according to the website PowerOutage.us.
Harrison County Fire Chief Pat Sullivan was out in the storm Wednesday and, even in the dark, said he saw trees on power lines, trees on homes and widespread roof damage to buildings.
“I shudder to think what it would of been like if it had not been moving as quickly as it had,” Sullivan said. “If it had sat over us, it would have been bad.”
At least four 18-wheelers blew over, three of them on Interstate 10 in Harrison and Jackson counties and one in Gulfport.
House fires also blazed during the storm, with five reported in Gulfport alone, Sullivan said. He said at least one home was destroyed because residents were using candles for light when power went out. Fire officials discourage the use of candles and suggest instead using battery-powered lanterns or other emergency lighting that operates on battery power.
Where to report damage
Harrison County homeowners and businesses can report Zeta damage online. The form will collect the address, a short description of damages, photos and contact information.
Links to report damage for other counties are available on the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency website. MEMA started damage assessments Thursday morning. While a pre-emergency disaster declaration will cover expenses associated with storm preparations, a disaster declaration has not yet been issued that would bring federal relief for storm damage.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 7:05 AM.
