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'Get out now': Mayor urges residents to flee ahead of rising river waters in Mississippi | CNN
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'Get out now': Mayor urges residents to flee ahead of rising river waters in Mississippi | CNN

The mayor of Mississippi's biggest city urged residents to "get out now" on Saturday as record-setting rain threatens to flood streets and creep into homes within the next two days.

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The mayor of Mississippi’s biggest city urged residents to “get out now” on Saturday as record-setting rain threatens to flood streets and creep into homes within the next two days.

Authorities earlier predicted Mississippi’s Pearl River to reach 36 feet and crest by Tuesday due to the rain, but the river is now expected to crest late Sunday through Monday evening before slowly lowering.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba told CNN on Sunday people should leave the city “as soon as possible,” saying he was worried of a repeat of the damaging February 2020 flooding.

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“Unfortunately because we have seen these events as recently as 2020, we have a reference point, and we know the damage that can occur,” he said.

“If we risk the life of one individual, that’s one individual too many,” Lumumba said. “Our residents have been inundated with persistent rain over the last few days.”

A flood stage in the city is considered “major” at 26 feet. The current flood warning says dozens of additional streets in downtown Jackson will flood at 34 feet, with water close to entering homes in Northeast Jackson at 35.8 feet.

“We are expecting waters to begin to impact neighborhoods as early as Sunday evening,” Lumumba said Saturday, adding as many as 150 homes are expected to be affected by the flooding.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency Saturday due to the rising river waters and urged residents to remain calm. The state has already begun assessing water levels along the river using drones and deployed more than 100,000 sandbags, according to the declaration.

“The state of Mississippi is as prepared as possible for this flooding,” Reeves said. “My administration, including (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency), is monitoring this situation closely, and actively working to respond as quickly as possible to ongoing developments with flooding.”

Memories of 2020 flooding

It wouldn’t be the first time the river reached such a high level. Several neighborhoods in northeast and downtown Jackson were flooded and the Pearl River reached its third highest crest on record at 36.7 feet during a significant flooding event in February 2020.

Authorities are warning that communities affected by the flood in 2020 face a high probability of being impacted again. “Residents in those impacted areas should be ready to leave within 48 hours,” Lumumba said Saturday.

The mayor warned residents that flood waters may remain on the ground for several days, and residents should be prepared to be away from their homes for up to two weeks.

A flood warning remains in effect in parts of Mississippi, including in Jackson around the Pearl River, until further notice, the National Weather Service said.

In Ridgeland, Mississippi, just north of Jackson, residents who had to evacuate during 2020’s floods found themselves packing their bags again.

“Hopefully it won’t get bad. That’s all we’re praying for,” Ridgeland resident Krystal Ferguson told CNN affiliate WAPT. She said her family ended up staying in a hotel for five days during the flooding in 2020.