Screenshot Courtesy of NWS
Governor Tate Reeves has declared a State of Emergency following Tropical Storm Cristobal’s impact on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
According to MEMA, the storm made landfall along the Louisiana coast Sunday evening and brought heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge to Mississippi leading to extensive damage in some areas.
A State of Emergency is an administrative tool that authorizes the use of state resources to aid in response and recovery efforts.
MEMA’s initial county assessments estimate around $5.2 million in damage across Harrison and Hancock Counties. This includes damage to beaches and debris removal. At this time, damage assessments are ongoing, so this estimated value could change in the upcoming days.
“It appears that based on precursory analysis, we will exceed the counties’ and state’s threshold for public assistance. Within the next weeks, we plan to request joint public damage assessments. We are hopeful that public assistance will become approved but there is much work to be done before those requests can be made,” says MEMA Executive Director Greg Michel.
Residents are still encouraged to self-report damage to county emergency management agencies through MEMA’s self-reporting tool. The links for each county can be found on our website: www.msema.org.
