Family needs help escaping neighbor's home after Biloxi River flood - Daily Journal

---

We also have more stories about:

(click the phrases to see a list)

Subjects:

• Disaster planning and response (131)


• Floods (221)


• Search and rescue efforts (270)


• Weather (590)


• Accidents and disasters (2998)

Places:

• Biloxi (27)


• Mississippi (695)

GULFPORT, Mississippi — A family of three and their three dogs needed help from Gulfport rescue teams to get out of a neighbor's home where they were stranded due to heavy rains.

Gulfport Battalion Chief Chris Henderson told The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/1hlP5dm ) that the Fire Department received a call about 5:30 a.m. Saturday about a north Gulfport family stranded at a neighbor's home on the Biloxi River.

It took the department's Swift Water Rescue Team until about 7 a.m. to free the family members, who had taken refuge on a second-floor deck on their neighbor's home after the river overflowed its banks.

Officials in south Mississippi said Saturday that they don't anticipate more precipitation for several days, but the Coast is expected to experience a ripple effect from two days of heavy rainfall. Officials and people living along or near area rivers should watch for flooding.

As of 10 a.m., the Biloxi River had crested at 14.5 feet, 2.5 feet above its flood stage, and the water level was beginning to decrease.

The Wolf and Tchoutacabouffa rivers are expected to continue to rise.

Meteorologist Shawn O'Neil with the National Weather Service in Slidell, Louisiana, said the Wolf River — with an 8-foot flood stage — was at 10.6 feet and should continue to rise to about 12 feet by midnight and should be flooded until Monday evening.

The Tchoutacabouffa River has a flood stage of 8-feet and is expected to crest around 7.7 feet by midnight.

Harrison County Director of Emergency Management Rupert Lacy said he wasn't anticipating a high number of issues resulting from rivers flooding.

"Our people who live on the rivers love it and they understand that this time of the year we have floods and they have to pay attention," he said. "Once warnings or watches come out, you need to heed those so that you don't get caught off guard."

---

Information from: The Sun Herald, http://ift.tt/12vv2Uy