Mandatory evacuations ordered in Hancock County ahead of Hurricane Ida landfall
Hancock County is the first in South Mississippi to issue a mandatory evacuation order Friday afternoon, ahead of Hurricane Ida’s projected landfall on the Louisiana coast as a major Category 4 hurricane.
The mandatory evacuations take effect at 10 a.m. Saturday in all low-lying areas, Hancock County EMA Director Brian Adam said.
Those areas include the following:
- Shoreline Park (east and west of Highway 90)
- Cedar Point
- South Beach Boulevard
- East and west side of Highway 603
- North Beach
- The south side of Clermont Harbor
- Lakeshore
- Ansley and Herron Bay
- Harbor Drive
- Chapman Road
- Jourdan River Drive
Hancock County hurricane shelter
The Hancock County Emergency Management Agency in coordination with the American Red Cross and the MS Department of Human is opening its shelter at 10 a.m. Saturday at the following location:
Kiln shelter, 18320 Highway 43, Kiln.
Pets are not allowed at the shelter.
For more information, call the Hancock Emergency Management Agency at 228-255-0942.
COVID protocols at the shelter
There will be COVID protocol in the shelter and masks are required, Adam said. Volunteers will check the temperatures of those who come in and social distancing is also mandated.
“We’re going to check fevers, we’ll have social distancing, we’ll stay at least six feet apart or better and you have to wear a mask at all times,” said Adam.
For people who are exhibiting the signs of COVID, Hancock County will offer a separate shelter on Highway 43, which will be open on an as-needed basis.
“We don’t want to put them in the same shelter as people who don’t have it, we have one that,” he said. “Last time we had a storm we didn’t have anybody in it, but we have something available if we do have an instance like that.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 5:15 PM.
