BROOKHAVEN — Local leaders and officials met for a weather briefing as Hurricane Francine approaches Wednesday afternoon. There are no new updates as what impacts are expected for Lincoln County. Wind and flash flooding are believed to be the biggest threats to the area. 

Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency Director Chris Reid spoke to the crowd of supervisors, public workers, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Brookhaven Fire Department, Brookhaven Police Department, KDMC, dispatch, school districts, forestry commission, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and Mississippi Department of Transportation after a briefing with the National Weather Service. 

He said the Brookhaven Building, located at 1154 Beltline Drive in Brookhaven, will be open as a safe room starting at 3 p.m. People would need to bring their own medication, food, water, comfort items and any other necessary items with them. Chairs and tables would be provided. Pets are not allowed in the safe room. It will remain open as a safe room until the threat of severe weather is over.  

Brookhaven School District Superintendent Rod Henderson said they would wait to make a decision about school closures which could come later today. Lincoln County School District Superintendent David Martin had the same thoughts. He said the district is continuing to monitor the weather and will adjust plans as new information becomes available. Most of the major weather impacts, flooding and wind gusts will come during the night and be gone by the time the sunrises. 

“The main concern remains the impact of the weather on roads and power,” Martin said. “A decision on opening schools Thursday will be made early Thursday morning after determining if we have power and roads are safe for travel. Be careful and stay safe.”

Power companies will be staged to respond to outages but depending once wind speeds get over 40 mph they will back out and resume work in the morning.  Lincoln County District Road Crews will work to clear any downed trees but they could be slowed down if power companies are unable to work. 

Expected weather conditions

The storm now has sustained wind speeds of 90 mph and has gained speed moving at 14 mph as it nears the Louisiana coastline where it is forecast to make landfall this afternoon. Francine is not expected to strengthen much more before it makes landfall in Louisiana. 

After landfall, the center of the storm is expected to move northward to southwest Mississippi where it will be at tropical storm strength this evening and into Thursday morning. Reid asked the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors to approve a local proclamation of emergency Wednesday morning.

“It would be good to go ahead just in case the weather does get bad to do a local proclamation of emergency,” Reid said. “We will have it done and can move forward from there. Hopefully, we won’t need it. Take pictures. If you have roads prone to flooding be sure to document and have maintenance records. MEMA won’t reimburse us if we don’t have records.”

Lincoln County is expected to experience wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph which could lead to widespread downed trees and power lines. Damage to roofs and roads being blocked could be expected. Power outages could last for several days. An onset of strong winds is expected to be in the area between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday.

Flash flooding is also a threat associated with this storm. Francine could dump four to six inches of rain on Lincoln County in a short period of time causing localized flash flooding of low lying areas and minor river flooding. There is also a marginal risk of tornados developing in a majority of Lincoln County but the tornado threat has really shifted towards Alabama.

As of this morning, a tropical storm warning and flood watch were in effect. A tropical storm warning means tropical storm winds are expected in the next 36 hours. Severe weather is forecast to pass through by commute time Thursday morning but it will depend on tree and power line damage how safe a morning commute would be.

Reid told the board they will know more tonight. He will have a weather briefing with local schools and officials at 12 p.m.

District 1 Supervisor Jerry Wilson asked about sandbags and where residents could get them. Reid told him residents could get just the sand bags from the E911 Office by calling the administrative line at 601-833-5231. The bags will not have sand and the person would be responsible for buying their own sand.

Check back for more updates. Be sure to submit any photos or damage reports by emailing news@dailyleader.com.