State of emergency declared in Mississippi

US President Joe Biden on Sunday declared a state of emergency in Mississippi  ahead of Hurricane Ida.

The president ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Ida beginning on August 28, 2021, until further notice.

According to the White House statement, The order authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety.

Hurricane Ida intensified Saturday over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, prompting tens of thousands to flee coastal areas.

Ida moved toward the US Gulf Coast on Saturday, and flood-prone New Orleans neighborhoods evacuated residents, as well as oilrigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Meteorologists said Ida could make landfall in the United States on Sunday as a “very dangerous” Category 4 storm.

E.M