Friday’s heavy rain ‘just going to exacerbate’ Ida’s effects on the MS Gulf Coast
A rainy Friday on the Coast will likely mean more severe flooding and tree damage when Hurricane Ida arrives on Sunday.
“It’s just going to exacerbate the situation,” said Phil Grigsby, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service New Orleans office.
Particularly from Gulfport to Bay St. Louis, he said, 3 to 5 inches of rain had been recorded by early Friday afternoon. That means the ground will be waterlogged when Hurricane Ida is expected to dump an additional 10 inches on the Coast come Sunday.
As a result, water will run into rivers and waterways instead of the ground, increasing the risk of river flooding and potentially flash flooding, too.
The wet ground also makes it more likely that trees come down in Ida’s heavy winds.
Grigsby said people who live in low-lying areas or near rivers may want to factor Friday’s rains into potential evacuation plans.
“If you’re concerned about a tree falling onto your house, then you may want to move to a safer shelter, but that’s up to each person’s individual decision on that,” he said.
River flooding in Harrison, Hancock counties
The heavy rainfall has informed weather service forecasts for river flooding in Harrison and Hancock County on Sunday.
- As of Friday morning, the Jourdan River in Kiln was forecast to crest Sunday evening at 9.5 feet, well over its flood stage of 6 feet.
- The Wolf River, above Gulfport with a flood stage of 8 feet, could crest at 13.5 feet.
- The Biloxi River near Lyman could reach 13 feet, a foot over its flood stage.
- The Tchoutacabouffa River near D’Iberville, with a flood stage of 8 feet, could crest at 11 feet.
Grigsby said the rain was caused by a low-pressure system, separate from Ida, that was moving west across Harrison County on Friday.
Saturday, he said, the Coast is expected to see a reprieve from rain before Sunday, “when the rain chances go up to 100% as the hurricane hits.”
Ida is now a Category 1 hurricane and expected to make landfall in southeastern Louisiana as a Category 3 storm late Sunday or early Monday. The National Hurricane Center expects the storm to continue to strengthen as it churns across the Gulf of Mexico.
Storm-force winds are expected as far as 80 miles from landfall, putting the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast at risk.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 1:55 PM.
