Barbour: Evacuate flood zone, but no state aid

Published 3:24 pm Wednesday, May 4, 2011

JACKSON (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is urging people to evacuate low-lying areas expected to flood in the south Delta later this month.

He says the state won’t provide assistance for the evacuations. Instead, he says people who need help should rely on friends, relatives or even strangers who are willing to lend a hand.

Barbour says Wednesday that all counties along the Mississippi River will have some flooding in mid-May, with the worst in the south Delta.

Engineers say the Mississippi River levees are expected to hold in this state, but floodwaters will go over the top of the Yazoo backwater levees between Rolling Fork and Vicksburg.

Barbour says the Grand Gulf nuclear power plant in Claiborne County won’t flood, but roads leading to the plant might go under water.