CLARKSDALE, Miss.–A slight shift to the east in the track for Hurricane Francine means some of the Delta might be spared the heavy concentration of rain that was predicted Tuesday. But, the National Weather Service is still urging people to be prepared for the storm, which is expected to make its way to the north through the day Thursday as a tropical depression, then as a low pressure system.
“The flash flooding threat is still fairly consistent. The four to six inches is possible, with two to four likely to the west,” said National Weather Service lead forecaster David Cox.
Delta counties were excluded from a flash flood watch issued Wednesday morning in anticipation of the storm’s path and the greatest expectation for heavy rain.
“With this being over a longer duration some areas can handle that rainfall,” said Cox. “But, localized flooding, urban areas and poor drainage areas could have that potential for flash flooding.”
Entergy Mississippi is employing technology in its preparations for wind damage.
“We have analytical tools that we used to predict damage in our system, based on the storm track. Based on that predicted damage we will stage crews all along the path of the storm and set the numbers of crews we think we’ll need for a given area,” said Shawn Corkran, vice president of Reliability for Entergy.
The company said Wednesday that more than 400 people had been brought in. Some work for the company. Others are contractors.
“In this case it seems to want to go up I-55 and so we’ll be staging crews all throughout the path of the expected storm.”
The storm is expected to clear Mississippi Thursday night and sunny and hot weather is expected Friday and into the weekend.
