Nate
MS Governor and MEMA: 'We did not dodge a bullet'
WLOX
"We did not dodge a bullet."
Those are words from Governor Phil Bryant and MEMA Executive Director Lee Smithson, the day after Hurricane Nate made landfall.
Millions of gallons of treated acid water released into Bayou Casotte, changing water color
Sun Herald
PASCAGOULA
In advance of Tropical Storm Nate, expected to be a hurricane, the EPA announced it would
have another release of millions of gallons of partly treated acid water from the Mississippi Phosphates gypsum stack.
EPA tries to cut risk of pollution from storm in Mississippi
AP
JACKSON, Miss. — Environmental officials are releasing 40 million gallons (150 million liters) of partially treated wastewater in Mississippi in advance of Hurricane Nate, trying to prevent a worse spill.
Lake Mars pier is gone. So is part of Jimmy Buffett Bridge.
Sun Herald
PASCAGOULA
Jackson county’s emergency management team found damage throughout Jackson County after Hurricane Nate.
Pascagoula officials clear debris from Nate
WLOX
Leah Rollins is amazed at what's left of the large oak tree that toppled over during last night's storm.
Jackson Co. residents survey storm damage
WLOX
Hurricane Nate hammered the Mississippi Gulf Coast for more than 12 hours Saturday. When the sun rose, residents emerged to survey the damage.
INTERVIEW WITH EARL ETHERIDGE
WXXV
News 25’s Joe Sullivan and Shelby Myers interviews Earl Etheridge about the storm and safety for Hurricane Nate.
Photos of damage from Hurricane Nate from across the Coast
Sun Herald
Drone video captures damage from Nate along coast
WAPT
State
Grant helps county clean illegal dumps
Natchez Democrat
NATCHEZ — The Adams County Road Department recently started cleaning illegal dump sites around the county with help from a $35,000 state grant.
YOKOHOMA PLANTS 2,000 TREES
WCBI
WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI)- Yokohoma’s tire manufacturing plant says it’s committed to West Point. Saturday they planted 2,000 trees in Clay County just off Hazelhurst Road as a sign of that commitment.
Tupelo Public Works serves up pink lemonade
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Fairpark turned pink Friday as Tupelo Public Works invited the community to share in pink lemonade and breast cancer awareness.
Wild hogs continue to wreak havoc across Mississippi
NewsMS
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Rooting and wallowing by wild hogs cause extensive land and crop damage, which can be stopped only by getting rid of the invasive animals.
Delta Business Journal
Imagine a job in Mississippi (other than politician and football coach) where one big group of people loves you and another one, well, doesn’t.
State Government
State revenue ahead of pace through 1st quarter
Daily Journal
JACKSON – State revenue collections for the first quarter of the current budget year are $30.7 million or 2.6 percent above the amount collected during the same time period last year.
Oil Spill
Alabama Settles Lawsuit Over Spending BP Money on Hotel
Alabama has settled a lawsuit that challenged the state's plans to use of oil spill restoration funds to build a beachside hotel.
AP
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) —
Alabama on Thursday settled a lawsuit filed by an environmental group that challenged the use of BP oil spill funds to build a 350-room beachside hotel and conference center.
National
EPA moves to repeal Obama climate rule 'in its entirety'
The Hill
The Trump administration will soon propose repealing the Obama administration’s climate change rule for power plants but won’t commit to replacing it with another regulation.
Oh, Scrap: China, the Biggest Buyer of America’s Trash, Wants No More
With enough of its own, China doesn’t want U.S. scrap, which is ‘backing up right now as we speak’
WSJ
There’s one economic activity the U.S. does better than anyone. We’re world champs in throwing stuff away.
Appeal to be heard on Nestle pumping station in November
AP
OSCEOLA TOWNSHIP, MICH.
A November hearing is planned on an appeal related to a bottled-water company's plans to pump more groundwater in western Michigan.
Opinion
Pruitt’s Clean Power Break
Dismantling Obama’s regulatory attempt to kill fossil fuels.
WSJ
The Trump Administration is giving the economy a boost with its deregulatory agenda, and the latest example comes Tuesday when Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt will propose to repeal the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan. Ending this power grab will uphold the letter of the law and restore cooperative federalism with the states.
State’s contract review process is still not what it should be
Bill Crawford
Sun Herald
Just when you thought it might finally be safe to swim in Mississippi’s contractual storm waters, the Mississippi Department of Education and Mississippi True contracts erupted.
As reported by The Clarion-Ledger, “both State Auditor Stacey Pickering and the state’s legislative watchdog ‘PEER’ committee blasted the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and vowed further investigation into its contracting and purchasing.”
Press releases
USGS Installs Storm-Tide Sensors Along Gulf Coast for Hurricane Nate
To learn more about USGS’ role providing science to decision makers before, during and after Hurricane Nate, visit the USGS Hurricane Nate page at
https://www.usgs.gov/nate.
Almost 60 storm-tide sensors have been deployed by U.S. Geological Survey hurricane response crews along the Gulf coast, from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle, in preparation for Hurricane Nate.
Under a mission assignment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 28 storm-tide sensors were installed in Louisiana, 10 in Florida, and about 20 are being installed in Alabama today, with the work expected to be complete this afternoon.
These scientific instruments are installed ahead of Nate to collect information about the hurricane’s effects on the coast. The retrieval of the sensors and the valuable data they hold will begin once Nate has passed sometime next week. To learn where the storm-tide sensors were deployed for Nate, visit the
USGS Hurricane Nate Flood Event Viewer.
The USGS studies the impacts of hurricanes and tropical storms to better understand potential impacts on coastal areas. Information provided through the sensor networks provides critical data for more accurate modeling and prediction capabilities and allows for improved structure designs and response for public safety.
Many forms of technology are used to track and document the effects of hurricanes along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Here is an in-depth look at the storm-tide sensors USGS scientists are using to document Nate’s coastal impacts.
1. What does a storm-tide sensor look like? It is a 1-1/2” aluminum or steel pipe strapped or bolted to a piling or other stable structure. The top will have a metal or PVC cap and the bottom will be open for the water to enter. The sensor housing protects a water-level pressure sensor inside. A unique USGS ID sticker will be on the outside. The sticker may be yellow or aluminum in color. If you find a sensor and have questions about it, please call the phone number on the sticker.
2. What type of data do the sensors collect? Water-level and barometric pressure are recorded every 30 seconds for most sites. Sensors located on beaches record wave height every 2 seconds. The recording period lasts for 1 to 3 days depending on the magnitude of the storm and post-storm access to the sensor sites.
3. What is a storm-tide sensor deployment? The USGS has developed a mobile network of rapidly deployable instruments with which to observe and document hurricane-induced storm-surge as they make landfall and interact with coastal features. Typically, these sensors are deployed along and inland of the coast about 50 miles left and 100 miles right of the projected path of hurricane landfall.
4. Why are you undertaking this work? The work will enable USGS to compile data so that specialists can quantify storm-tide dynamics (wave heights, forces, speeds, and extent) for various storm conditions, topographies, ecologies, built environments, and land uses. This information will lead to better storm-tide models and more accurate flood forecasts, while informing decisions on designs of flood-protection infrastructure and future land use policies.
5. What is the nature of the work? Storm-tide sensors (non-vented pressure transducers) are strapped to bridge piers, power and light poles, and other structures along the coast. Depending on the size of a storm and the potentially affected area, the effort can involve dozens of two-person teams deploying hundreds instruments 24 to 48 hours prior to a hurricane’s landfall.
6. What are you going to do with the data? Data are uploaded to the web as as a series of water level and water pressure measurements taken over time stage and pressure time series. The USGS generates various graphics to create 3-D water-surface images, and depth and duration maps. Together they enable us to study surge flooding, including wave height, and moment by moment, visualize its interaction with the coastal features such as beaches, islands, estuaries, and streams. By tying these data together and with local topography, scientists can determine the rates at which flood waters transverse various water bodies and landforms, the major paths of penetration, their duration, and the height and frequency of waves that strike dunes and built infrastructure.
Data of this nature is quite rare and very valuable for determination of flood insurance maps, building codes, and for calibration of the hurricane inundation models. Accurate model forecasts are critical for community preparation of storm response and evacuation plans.
7. Are the surge data reported in real-time? The surge data are not reported in real time but are logged on-site. They are processed and calibrated for barometric pressure, water density, and elevation data, and are then made available to the public. The USGS also maintains a network of streamgages that provide real-time information on water levels and flow rates on many rivers and streams across the country. This network can be augmented by rapid deployed gauges that are installed at sites that do not currently have permanent streamgages.
8. What other kinds of data are needed? There are several kinds of data that would complement this work and for which the USGS seeks collaborators. These include offshore water-level and wave-height data, wind speed and direction, inland water salinity, post-storm ecological assessments, and geological evaluations of beach and landform behavior, and engineering evaluations.
9. Who uses this information? USGS data is used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, and National Hurricane Center and the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, as well as state responders and emergency management officials.
10.
Where can I learn more? More information on Hurricane Nate can be found here https://www.usgs.gov/nate Reports on previous USGS storm surge documentation efforts as well as additional information about storm-tide sensors is available
here.
