Severe weather takes aim at Central Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The threat for severe weather is ramping up and many officials want you to have a plan for when severe weather hits to protect you and your family.

Eric Bullard, who is a spokesperson for MEMA said, “Know where you’re going to go. Know your safe place. You know, for some people that could be a closet. Could be your bathroom. But make sure you’re in a sturdy structure on the lowest floor.”

Some people in the community that are in need may not have a safe place to go to ride out the storm.

One local homeless shelter helps get them off the streets during bad weather.

Gerald Snell, who manages Gateway Rescue Missions shelter, said, “Anytime we have inclement weather where there’s extreme heat, extreme cold or thunderstorms, we’ll see an increase in the number of people who are coming and seeking shelter and at that point what we’ll do is we’ll fill up our beds in our shelter.”

Some of you may not have a sturdy building to hunker down in. One of the worst spots to be during a tornado is in a mobile home.

“If you live in a mobile home or somewhere that you don’t really know exactly if it’s safe spot at night, identify somewhere where you can go today before that weather comes through tomorrow or it comes through tonight so you know that could be a community safe room, could be a friend ‘s house, could be a family member’s house. Just make sure you identify some place you can go to stay safe when these tornadoes come through,” said Bullard.

When storms move through, they often leave behind damage.

With damage often comes power outages. Entergy Mississippi has advice for their customers when they experience an outage.

Candace Coleman, who is a spokesperson for Entergy Mississippi, said, “Just stay safe. Stay away from any power lines, avoid any hazards, you know, if you do see a downed line and you’re not sure if we know about the outage, you know, make sure you’re calling in that downed line at 1-800-Entergy.”

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