State
Missouri company caught storing hazardous waste in Franklin County gets probation, must help pay for cleanup
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A Missouri company involved in the illegal storage of hazardous waste in Franklin County was sentenced Friday to two years of probation and ordered to help pay $1.5 million toward cleanup costs.
Breached Dam Causes Scare For Neighborhood Near Oxford, MS
Local Memphis
OXFORD, Miss. (localmemphis.com) - The relentless rain and severe weather risks also caused headaches and some concern in a subdivision near Oxford, MS.
...A team from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality also came on scene to keep an eye on the situation. Once the rain clears, crews will patch up the breached dam in the week ahead.
Storm destruction: One confirmed dead, thousands without power
Commercial Dispatch
At least one person has been killed as a result of a storm that hit Columbus Saturday evening.
Eagle Lake residents prepare for flooding
WLBT
Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace and other county leaders met with Eagle Lake residents Saturday to discuss the flooding impact from the rising Mississippi River.
State releases damage assessments from flooding, tornadoes
WTVA
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is adding up just how much damage has been caused by the bad weather in recent days.
Officials express concerns about Lamar Co. spillway
WDAM
Earlier this month, the Lamar County board of supervisors voted to put spillway gates up throughout the county to protect drivers during flooding events.
What’s the Mississippi Coast’s new slogan? Big reveal coming.
Sun Herald
It been in the works for more than a year and now it’s time for the grand reveal of a new tourism slogan for Visit MS Gulf Coast.
Oil Spill
Florida lawsuit targets New Orleans attorney who helped mold BP spill settlements
Times-Picayune
A New Orleans attorney colluded with BP during settlement negotiations over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and oil spill to reduce the company’s financial liability, resulting in smaller payments for those filing claims, according to a lawsuit filed this week in a Florida state court.
Regional
Toxic red tide appears to have faded from Florida's waters
AP
Florida's coastal waters appear free from a devastating red tide bloom that began in October 2017.
Saving The Gulf Of Mexico's Oysters
NPR
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
And now to a big oyster problem in the Gulf of Mexico - from Florida to Texas, oyster populations are dropping. And in some places, they are at historic lows. It's so bad that, in Alabama, this year's public oyster season was canceled. Scientists involved in restoration efforts are now finding that what worked before isn't any longer. So biologists are trying something new, as Mary Scott Hodgin of member station WBHM reports.
Arkansas National Guard Called for Air Monitoring at Stump Dump in Bella Vista
KNWA
The 61st Civil Support Team (CST) from the Arkansas National Guard will be conducting ongoing air monitoring tests at the former stump dump site in Bella Vista, according to a press release.
National
EPA regulator skirts the line between former clients and current job
Washington Post
Less than a month into his tenure as the top air policy official at the Environmental Protection Agency, Bill Wehrum hopped into the EPA’s electric Chevy Volt and rode to the Pennsylvania Avenue offices of his former law firm.
White House committee to reassess climate science conclusions: report
The Hill
The Trump administration is planning to create an ad hoc group of federal scientists to reassess and counter the government's conclusions on climate change, The Washington Post reported Sunday. ttps://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/431330-white-house-committee-to-reassess-climate-science-conclusions
Weed killer in your wine and beer? That's what a new U.S. PIRG study found
USA Today
A new report by the public-interest advocacy group U.S. PIRG reveals that tests of five wines and 15 beers, including organic ones, found traces of the controversial weed killer glyphosate in 19 out of the 20.
High-stakes trial over Roundup cancer claim to begin
AP
A jury in federal court in San Francisco will decide whether Roundup weed killer caused a California man’s cancer in a trial starting Monday that plaintiffs’ attorneys say could help determine the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits.
Frackers Face Harsh Reality as Wall Street Backs Away
WSJ
The once-powerful partnership between fracking companies and Wall Street is fraying as the industry struggles to attract investors after nearly a decade of losing money.
BMW fined for diesel software error
AP
Germany prosecutors have fined automaker BMW 8.5 million euros ($9.66 million) for lax oversight in installing defective engine software that led to excessive diesel emissions in 7,965 cars.
A tiny tyrannosaur dubbed the ‘harbinger of doom’ has been discovered in Utah
Salt Lake Tribune
A new tyrannosaur fossil has been discovered in Utah — and it’s tiny compared to its more famous relative T. rex.
Press releases
PEARL – The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has received additional damage reports from more than 30 counties due to severe storms and tornadoes on February 23rd, along with flooding that started on February 19th and is still ongoing throughout the state.
These damage reports serve only as initial assessments from the county emergency management offices and will change (either higher or lower) as additional reports and assessments are sent to MEMA.
So far, 300 residences, 190 roads and bridges and 30 businesses are affected statewide. This number does not include damage assessments in Lowndes County. Those numbers are yet to be determined.
Initial damage reports by county (assessments ongoing):
- Alcorn: Assessments ongoing
- Calhoun: 54 homes and 20 roads damaged.
- Carroll: Assessments ongoing
- Chickasaw: One home and 14 roads damaged.
- Clarke: Homes damaged, three businesses and two roads damaged.
- Clay: 69 homes and 12 roads
- Coahoma: Assessments delayed due to flooding
- Grenada: 100 homes and 22 businesses damaged. Six roads damaged.
- Humphreys: Assessments delayed due to flooding
- Issaquena: One home and five roads damaged.
- Itawamba: 41 roads damaged.
- Lafayette: Assessments ongoing
- Lee: 60 homes damaged; some roads inaccessible.
- Lincoln: One home damaged; Roads damaged or inaccessible.
- Lowndes: NWS Jackson confirmed tornado; awaiting damage reports from the county; widespread power outages. Multiple injuries reported. MEMA Personnel have been deployed to the city of Columbus for initial damage assessments.
- Madison: Assessments ongoing
- Monroe: Assessments ongoing
- Montgomery: Assessments ongoing
- Noxubee: One home damaged
- Pontotoc: Assessments ongoing
- Prentiss: 34 roads damaged
- Quitman: Assessments ongoing
- Rankin: One home damaged.
- Sharkey: Three homes and four roads damaged.
- Simpson: One business damaged.
- Smith: Six roads and three bridges damaged.
- Sunflower: Homes and roads damaged or inaccessible.
- Tallahatchie: 35 homes and 29 roads damaged.
- Tishomingo: NWS Memphis Confirmed tornado; two homes and 22 roads damaged; two bridges damaged
- Tunica: Three roads damaged
- Union: Assessments ongoing
- Warren: Assessments ongoing
- Washington: Assessments ongoing
- Webster: Two homes and multiple roads damaged.
- Yalobusha: Assessments ongoing
- Yazoo: Assessments ongoing
Open Shelters: All Shelters Operated and Maintained by the American Red Cross and staffed by the MS Department of Human Services - Lee County: Bancorp South Arena – 375 Main Street, Tupelo, MS 38801
- Lowndes County: Townsend Community Center – 826 15th Street, Columbus, MS 39701
- Tallahatchie County: National Guard Armory - 409 S Cossar Avenue, Charleston, MS 38921
The public is encouraged to report damage to homes or businesses to their county emergency management office. A directory of all the offices can be found at http://www.msema.org/county-ema/
MEMA will provide updates as information becomes available. The best way to get up-to-date information during this event is to “Like” MEMA on Facebook, or “Follow” us on twitter @msema.
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Update: Information from the Open Ocean Monitoring and Adaptive Management Workshop
On February 4, 2019 the Open Ocean Restoration Area Trustees held a workshop to seek input on the identification and prioritization of information needed to facilitate restoration of resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The workshop was held during the 2019 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference.
