Heavy Rain, Gusty Winds Expected in Oxford Tonight

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

Lafayette County can expect the worst of whatever Tropical Storm Ida plans to dump on our area later this evening.

Lafayette County Emergency Management Director Steve Quarles said to expect rain throughout the day with heavier rainfall coming into the area around 8 p.m.

“The center of the storm should come through somewhere around 1 a.m,” Quarles said this morning. “During that period we’ll have sustained winds of about 30 miles per hour. We may have some gusts that come in higher than that.”

About 3 to 5 inches of rain is forecast to fall in Lafayette County.

Quarles said while tornadoes are possible, Lafayette County is only at a marginal risk for severe weather like tornadoes.

“It appears the highest chance for tornadoes will be to the east of us,” he said. “However, the National Weather Service said depending on how much heat we get today, it could increase our risk.”

With the heavy rain and high winds expected tonight, Quarles said it’s possible trees and limbs could fall, creating power outages in some areas.

Lafayette County is currently under a Flash Flood Watch until 7 p.m. on Tuesday and a Wind Advisory until 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

Ida is expected to move out of north Mississippi by Tuesday afternoon. There is a 50 percent chance of rain before noon on Tuesday which should give way to mostly sunny skies Tuesday afternoon with breezes at 10 to 15 mph and a high of 78.

Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and is moving over southwestern Mississippi this morning.

The hurricane was blamed for at least one death in Prairieville, Louisiana, according to news reports.

The entire city of New Orleans late Sunday was without power, according to city officials.

Hurricane Ida started as a Category 4 storm and came to shore about 45 miles west of where Category 3 Katrina first struck land. It dropped later to a Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 95 mph as it moved inland, northwest of New Orleans.

Significant flooding was reported late Sunday night in LaPlace, a community adjacent to Lake Pontchartrain, meteorologists in New Orleans said. Many people took to social media, pleading for boat rescues as the water rose.