PEARL, Miss. – Governor Tate Reeves has signed a State of Emergency in response to Tropical Storm Cristobal, which made landfall along the Louisiana coast Sunday evening. The storm brought heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge to the Mississippi Gulf Coast leading to extensive damage in some areas.
A State of Emergency is an administrative tool that authorizes the use of state resources to aid in response and recovery efforts.
Initial county assessments estimate around $5.2 million in damage across Harrison and Hancock Counties. This includes damage to beaches and debris removal. At this time, damage assessments are ongoing, so this estimated value could change in the upcoming days.
“It appears that based on precursory analysis, we will exceed the counties’ and state’s threshold for public assistance. Within the next weeks we plan to request joint public damage assessments. We are hopeful that public assistance will become approved but there is much work to be done before those requests can be made,” says MEMA Executive Director Greg Michel.
Residents are still encouraged to self-report damage to county emergency management agencies through MEMA’s self-reporting tool. The links for each county can be found on our website: www.msema.org.
To read the full proclamation click here: State of Emergency Proclamation – Tropical Storm Cristobal
Photos from Harrison County following Tropical Storm Cristobal’s landfall:
