Hurricane Zeta: Here’s how much damage the storm did and what beaches are open
Harrison County Supervisors on Nov. 9 lifted the burn ban that’s been in place since Hurricane Zeta.
More than 32,000 houses were damaged or affected by Hurricane Zeta, according to the latest report from MEMA.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency issued the report Friday, more than a week after the category 2 hurricane brought high winds and storm surge to South Mississippi.
To date, by county the toll is:
Harrison — 26,838 homes, 212 businesses and 928 public roads and buildings affected
Jackson — 2,535 homes, 20 businesses and 69 public roads and buildings affected
Hancock — 993 homes and 35 businesses affected
George — 990 homes, 20 businesses and 6 public roads and buildings affected
Stone — 161 homes, 4 businesses and 4 public roads and buildings affected
Pearl River — 30 homes affected
Beaches reopening
Harrison Sand Beach Department has opened the beach from Jones Park (20th Ave.) in Gulfport to Rodenburg Avenue in Biloxi. Bonfire pits can’t be used until the burn ban in Harrison County is lifted.
Other areas of the 26 miles of Harrison County Sand Beach are closed temporarily for the cleanup of debris from Hurricane Zeta.
Power mostly restored
Mississippi Power announced Monday that 99 percent of its customers who can receive power following Hurricane Zeta now have electricity, as others in South Mississippi still wait for their lights and heat to come on.
On Tuesday, when temperatures north of I-10 dipped down into the 30s, Singing River Electric was reporting 9,900 customers waiting for power and Coast Electric had 1,900 customers without power since Hurricane Zeta’s high winds on Wednesday evening.
By Thursday, Coast Electric reported it was restoring service to about 20 customers to wrap up the work and by Friday it was down to 4. Crews are checking the power lines throughout the three counties looking for things like limbs that are a danger to lines and clearing those issues.
“At the height of the storm, 65,000 members were without service. Eighty percent of those outages were restored in four day and 95% were restored after five days. We will be at 100% today,” said April Lollar, director of communications for Coast Electric. The company had 1,858 broken poles in Hurricane Zeta, 2,000 spans of wire down and 1,755 trees on lines.
Singing River Electric has 2,627 customers waiting for power on Friday.
Mississippi Power has 111 customers who haven’t been able to have power restored on Monday.
The restoration for 99% of Mississippi Power customers by 6 p.m. Monday came ahead of the company’s original estimate that 95% of customers would have power restored by midnight.
“I want to thank our customers for their patience and perseverance as we worked to restore their service,” Mississippi Power President Anthony Wilson said. “We put every resource available to us into restoring their service as quickly and safely as possible.”
About 1,700 personnel from 20 states came to help Mississippi Power restore service.
Most schools return, 1 damaged
▪ Saucier Elementary, where several buildings sustained damage from Hurricane Zeta. Students at Saucier Elementary will move to distance learning until further notice.
Facilities closed
Biloxi’s marinas and park: The commercial docks south of the Hard Rock remain closed. Miramar Park off U.S. 90 remains closed. The playground and walking track at Hiller Park are closed. The boardwalk at Lighthouse Park was destroyed. The Kuhn Street and Lee Street boat launches are the only boat ramps open
Some recreation areas on the De Soto Ranger District temporarily are closed because of damage from Hurricane Zeta.
Debris removal
▪ Harrison County storm debris collection is under way in the unincorporated areas of the county and should be complete in about 30 days. When ramped up, 20 debris collection crews will be working seven days a week from about 6 a.m. each day until dark.
As the first pass is nearing completion, Harrison County will have more information about what to expect for a second pass schedule.
▪ Jackson County’s debris contractor will begin picking up Hurricane Zeta debris in the unincorporated areas of the county on Monday.
▪ In Biloxi, up to a dozen storm-debris teams will be begin picking up debris Thursday and will work seven days a week from sunrise to sunset using high-capacity, self-loading equipment.
Teams will start in each of the wards, with two in Ward 7. It could take 2-3 months to remove the debris.
▪ Other cities and counties continue to remove debris.
Residents should put their debris curbside in the right-of-way area and separate it by trees and branches, construction debris, wood fencing and large appliances. Debris should not be bagged.
A burn ban is in effect for much of the Coast.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 12:49 PM.
