Marion County is going to experience a very wet weekend.
Tropical Storm Barry is expected to make landfall sometime on Saturday near the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana.
According to Marion County Civil Defense Director Aaron Greer, the county can expect to have anywhere from 4 to 10 inches of rain depending on the location in the county. Winds 20 to 30 miles per hour may also accompany the rain, but the biggest concern for Marion County will be flooding.
As of press time, Barry is still a tropical storm, but it is predicted to be a hurricane by the time it reaches land.
New Orleans is already experiencing heavy flooding from the storm system. Some parts of Louisiana are already under mandatory evacuations.
Mayor Justin McKenzie said work has been going on already to make sure the drains were cleaned prior to the development of the storm.
As of press time, Marion County is under a flash flood warning until 7 p.m. on Sunday.
In the event there is a flood do not drive through the flood waters. Six inches of moving water can knock a person down, and it only takes one foot of moving water to sweep a car away.
The U.S. Geological Survey said it is very likely that about one-fifth of Mississippi’s sandy beaches will be overwashed. As waves and surge reach higher than the top of the dune, overwash can transport large amounts of sand across coastal environments, causing significant changes to the landscape.
