VICKSBURG, Miss. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Level II Emergency Watch for Hurricane Ida, Aug. 27, 2021, and conducted its first crisis management team meeting today to coordinate with all District elements and ensure proper hurricane preparation.
The Vicksburg District EOC is in communication with both the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Exercise Preparedness (GOHSEP) along with other response and preparedness partners throughout the District’s area of responsibility.
The District has provided 100,000 sandbags to MEMA and is postured to provide any further requests for support. In addition to MEMA assistance, the district stands ready to carry out its Debris Team mission from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as needed. The District debris team is currently second in line to deploy when activated.
The District’s new emergency command and control vehicle (ECCV) has also been activated to alert status for possible deployment to the vicinity of Alexandria, Louisiana, with a team of personnel who stand ready to support.
The USACE Modeling, Mapping, and Consequence production center (MMC) has developed inundation maps for the Pearl River Basin and southwest tributaries. The public can view the inundation map at: https://go.usa.gov/xFJhf
Currently, the North Mississippi lakes near the Yazoo Basin have between 40 to 60% of flood control storage available. Given the current forecast, Vicksburg District’s Water Control Staff do not expect pool levels at the lake reservoirs to rise over spillway crest. The district will continue to monitor conditions across its area of responsibility before, during and following the storm’s landfall.
According to the National Weather Service as of 10 a.m. Central, Hurricane Ida is projected to make landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday at 8 p.m. as a major hurricane. Area residents should follow all state and local orders and make any necessary preparations as soon as possible.
The USACE Vicksburg District is engineering solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges. The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, that holds nine major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline Mississippi River levees. The Vicksburg District is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.
Please visit BlueRoof.US to find information for the USACE Blue Roof Program for Hurricane Ida
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