From

staff reports

The Miss-Lou could see winds of up to 110 miles per hour and rain of up to 15 inches Monday as the result of Hurricane Katrina, Tracy Floyd of the Adams County Civil Defense Office said Sunday afternoon.

The National Weather Service “predicts it could still be a category 2 or 3 hurricane when it hits this area,” Floyd said at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. “We expect to see 40 mile per hour winds at 6 a.m. Monday and 70 mile per hour winds by lunch, with rain to start (Sunday) evening.”

People in low-lying areas and mobile homes are being asked to evacuate Sunday to sturdy structures, such as the non-mobile homes of friends or relatives. Sheriff’s deputies will travel throughout rural Adams County to alert such people to evacuate as soon as possible, and Floyd said she will contact radio stations and appear on cable television to alert the public as well.

As of Sunday afternoon, a curfew was in effect for Adams County outside the Natchez city limits from midnight to 4 a.m. “to basically make sure people aren’t out looting the mobile homes that are being evacuated,” Floyd said. “The curfew isn’t for people who have to get to work or people who are evacuating.”

Natchez aldermen were set to meet at 3 p.m. Sunday at City Hall to discuss putting a citywide curfew in place and setting up shelters for local people evacuating low-lying areas or mobile homes, as well as other storm-related preparations, Mayor Phillip West said.

Everyone in the Miss-Lou, however, should prepare for the storm by getting gas for their vehicles; getting together a can opener and canned goods and water for three to five days; having a 30-day supply of any needed medications at the ready; have flashlights and enough batteries for radios, flashlights and the like; and getting changes of clothes together, among other common-sense precautions, said the Red Cross and Floyd.

“Also, make sure you have an out-of-state (relative or friend’s) number to call in case they get separated from relatives – a number to touch base,” Floyd said.

School closings for Monday include:

— Natchez-Adams School District

— Adams County Christian School

— Trinity Episcopal Day School

— Cathedral School

— Copiah-Lincoln Community College has cancelled daytime classes and will make a decision later about evening classes.

Officials at the following schools had not yet made a decision about classes on Sunday afternoon: Concordia Parish Schools, Copiah-Lincoln Community College (all campuses), Alcorn State University and Louisiana Technical College Shelby M. Jackson Campus.