Winter Storm Causes Major Impacts in Mississippi

PEARL – The State Emergency Operations Center has received reports of close to nine inches of snow in some parts of the state causing major travel problems and significant power outages. Estimated snow totals being reported to the National Weather Service include:

• Houston (Chickasaw) 9 inches

• Tupelo (Lee) 8 inches

• Tremont (Itawamba) 7.5 inches

• Grenada (Grenada) 6 inches

• Calhoun City (Calhoun) 6 inches

• Columbus (Lowndes) 6 inches

The Mississippi Department of Transportation and Department of Public Safety are asking citizens to stay off the roads where ice and snow have accumulated unless it is an emergency.

There are several curfews that have been put in place by local law enforcement because of dangerous conditions:

• Lee Co., Calhoun Co., and city of Tupelo until 5 a.m.

• Cities of Okolona and Houston until 6 a.m.

Red Cross Shelter opening:

• Lewis Johnson Senior Citizen Complex, 299 MLK Jr. Blvd. in Grenada. (Estimated to open at 11 p.m. by the Mississippi Department of Human Services)

Warming Centers open:

• Parkway Church, 200 5th Ave. in Houston

• Okolona First Baptist Church, 201 Main St. in Okolona.

• Salvation Army Center in Greenville.

As of 8:30 p.m. there are more than 36,000 power outages being reported:

• Delta EPA

• Carroll County 2,500

• Montgomery County 2,500

• Monroe County EPA

• Monroe County 8,000

• 4-County EPA

• Clay County 1,500

• Choctaw County 1,500

• Natchez Trace EPA

• Chickasaw County 2,800

• Webster County 2,000

• Calhoun County 3,000

• Tombigbee EPA

• Lee County 1,831

• Itawamba County 1,063

• Tallahatchie Valley EPA

• Tallahatchie County 1,770Grenada County 150 Panola County 20 Yalobusha County 1,695

• Entergy has a total of 6,728

• The largest being:

• Grenada Co. 3,581

• Montgomery Co. 1,445

• Carroll Co. 463

• Webster Co. 319

• Leflore Co. 226

• Tallahatchie Co. 193

• Yalobusha Co. 159

There are numerous school districts closing or delaying opening on Thursday in north and central Mississippi. Please check with your local districts for the status in your area.

Gov. Phil Bryant will make a decision on the opening of state offices early Thursday morning based on road conditions.

The State Emergency Operations Center remains activated responding to any requests for assistance from local governments.

For up-to-date roadway information, go to www.mdottraffic.com or dial 5-1-1.

For detailed preparedness information, go to MEMA’s website at www.msema.org. The best way to get up-to-date information is to “Like” MEMA on Facebook, or “Follow” us on twitter.