Historic floods soak Mississippi

Despite two days of sunshine, the Pearl River was still spilling over into neighborhoods in Mississippi’s capital city on Sunday. Heavy rains forced authorities at the Barnett Reservoir northeast of Jackson to open the spillway late Saturday, triggering floods downstream. Law enforcement officers have been going door to door telling people in affected areas to leave. “We do not anticipate this situation to end anytime soon,” Gov. Tate Reeves said. “It will be days before we are out of the woods and the waters start to recede.”

What’s ahead? The National Weather Service said it expects the river to crest in the Jackson area at nearly 38 feet sometime Monday. Once the river crests, the flood risk will remain for three or four days, according to Reeves. Forecasters are expecting several inches of rain between midday Tuesday and Wednesday evening.