to turn its back on Miss-Lou

By JULIE FINLEY

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ &045;&045; Natchez and Adams County are under a state of emergency starting at 7 a.m. today, but it is unlikely the area will see much of Hurricane Ivan’s wrath, the National Weather Service said.

Because of the Category 4 storm’s slow but steady right turn, Jackson National Weather Service Meteorologist John Gagan said Adams County should be in pretty good shape.

&uot;You are pretty much on the west side of the storm,&uot; Gagan said Wednesday. &uot;If you had to be on one side, that’s probably the side you’d want to be on.&uot;

Gagan said Adams County could expect intermittent rainfall and maybe 35- to 45-mile-per-hour wind gusts.

&uot;Other than cloud cover, there won’t be too much of an effect,&uot; he said.

Gagan said Hurricane Ivan holds the heavy rain and winds very close to the eye on the west side. The northeast side of the storm will produce much more severe weather, he said.

The eye of the hurricane was expected to make landfall around 6 a.m. today on the Mississippi/Alabama state line.

Gagan said the area east of Interstate 55 from McComb over would be fairly hard hit.

He also said hurricanes can produce tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, but those too are usually on the east side of the storm.

&uot;There is some potential on the northwest side,&uot; he said. &uot;But the tornado threat is diminished on the west side.&uot;

Gagan said days of watching Ivan’s upper level wind pattern have made meteorologists almost certain the storm will not turn back to the west.

Even with the forecast looking up Adams County emergency officials met Wednesday morning to prepare for the worst.

&uot;I like what we see so far for Natchez-Adams County,&uot; Emergency Management Director George Souderes told the crowd of law enforcement officers, elected officials, hospital and school personnel and representatives from local power and electric companies, among others.

Souderes still encouraged the crowd to take precautions such as keeping their cars full of gas, carrying rain suits and having chain saws ready to go.

&uot;We have visitors in town and it’s congested,&uot; Souderes said. &uot;We are going to have to see how quickly we can get limbs up.&uot;

The group also discussed keeping a centralized list of closed roads and other problems so emergency vehicles would be able to go where needed.

Those needing assistance that are not in emergency situations are asked to call the Emergency Management office at 442-7021.

The storm should move through Adams County by mid-afternoon today. After making landfall around Mobile, Ala., meteorologists predict the storm will continue northeast toward Birmingham, Ala.