'Evacuate IMMEDIATELY!!!' Mississippi sheriff warns levee will break amid powerful storm

Kinsey Crowley and Brian Broom, USA TODAY NETWORK
Updated ·2 min read
44

A Mississippi sheriff has called for an emergency evacuation, saying that a levee on a nearby lake is soon to break.

Much of the state has been experiencing severe weather starting Tuesday, bringing threats of hail, damaging wind and tornadoes. It is part of a larger storm system that has been moving east from Texas, dumping rain across the Gulf Coast states.

Mississippi residents in a Yazoo County neighborhood with an "elevated threat" for flooding Wednesday were told to leave immediately, as inches more rain are expected to fall today. Yazoo County is located nearly an hour northwest of Jackson.

"If you or someone that you know lives in the Eastbrook subdivision on Highway 16 in Yazoo County you need to evacuate IMMEDIATELY!!!" a post on the Yazoo County Sheriff's Office Facebook page says. "The levee is about to break on the lake and the houses will flood. Please get out ASAP!!!"

More: Severe storm to unleash rain, hail and tornadoes across Gulf Coast: weather forecast

Mississippi weather watches and warnings in effect

According to the National Weather Service, Yazoo County is under a flash flood warning Wednesday until 12:30 p.m. local time and under a flood watch until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday.

Here are the watches and warnings in effect for the rest of the state:

Many without power as storm damages buildings across southeast

NWS preliminary reports show tornados, hail and severe wind struck Gulf Coast states Tuesday, downing trees and damaging buildings.

As of Wednesday morning, more than 150,000 people were without power across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi according to USA TODAY's database.

Several schools held classes virtually, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deployed emergency resources starting Monday for places badly impacted by the storms.

The system is forecast to bring rain to much of the northeast throughout the rest of the week, with moderate to heavy rainfall hitting the Midwest and East Coast Thursday.

Contributing: Anthony Robledo, Christopher Cann; USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gulf coast storm: Mississippi sheriff warns of levee break, flooding