Published: November 09, 2009 11:34 pm      

Ida Weakens

Coastal areas warned of flooding

PASCAGOULA (AP) — Emergency officials in Mississippi’s easternmost coastal county urged residents of low-lying and flood-prone areas, along with those living in mobile homes, to seek shelter Monday ahead of Tropical Storm Ida.

As Ida weakened, hurricane warnings were dropped along the Gulf Coast on Monday and replaced with tropical storm warnings that stretch from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

The American Red Cross announced that shelters would open in Gautier, Biloxi and Ocean Springs.

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency for areas of Mississippi expected to experience high winds and heavy rainfall. Bryant made the declaration because Gov. Haley Barbour was out of state.

‘‘While Ida appears to be weakening, we urge that residents, particularly in low-lying, flood-prone areas, continue to be vigilant, prudent, and alert to any changes,’’ Barbour said in a statement from Washington, D.C.

The emergency declaration allows for the deployment of some members the Mississippi National Guard and puts the Department of Public Safety and other state agencies on special alert. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has already deployed to the Gulf Coast and is coordinating with local emergency officials.

In Pascagoula, Tim Carpenter, 46, donned a yellow rainslicker as he tied down his 31-foot sailboat in a marina. Carpenter said he has lived on the coast his entire life and had never seen a tropical storm or worse in November.

‘‘A lot of crazy things are happening. The Saints are 8-0 and you’ve got a storm in November,’’ said Carpenter, who plans to ride out Ida on his boat to make sure the lines hold.

Cathy Huyett, 50, who was out walking her dog as the first bands of Ida drenched Pascagoula, said the insurance agency where she worked was swamped with calls Monday from people wanting flood insurance.

‘‘We can’t sell anything now that the storm is in the Gulf. I guess they gamble,’’ she said.

Huyett said she told her boyfriend’s sister who called to ask if they were going to evacuate, ‘‘It’s just going to be a bad rainstorm.’’

John Lindgren, 48, who lives about a block from the Gulf of Mexico, spent part of Monday afternoon tying up a powerboat and a sailboat as rain and rough seas crashed against a retaining wall. A veteran of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he said he planned to ride out Ida.

‘‘What’s happening here is nothing,’’ he said.

T.J. Covacevich, 50, was equally confident at he tied down his 35-foot power boat, the ‘‘Sea-Bat,’’ at a Biloxi harbor.

He had moved the boat farther inland for Katrina and for last year’s less powerful Hurricane Gustav, but he planned no such move for Ida.

‘‘We can ride it out right here,’’ said Covacevich, sporting a T-shirt that said ‘‘Hurricane Hunter.’’

Also in Biloxi, Mary Rose Leahy, 73, lamented the bad timing of the storm. It was moving toward the coast as workers were preparing to raise the government-issued cottage she moved into after Katrina destroyed her 105-year-old home.

‘‘Murphy’s Law,’’ she chuckled, ‘‘All this time, finally about to get it done, and now look what happens.’’

The forecast did not deter gamblers at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi.

Debbie Milella, 54, of Chesapeake, Va., and her husband, Marty, were staying at the casino before heading over to New Orleans. She said when they started on their vacation Saturday, Ida was just entering the Gulf of Mexico, but they were not going to change their plans.

‘‘I knew it was out there but didn’t know where it was tracking,’’ she said Monday while taking a break from the slot machines. ‘‘I didn’t even think it was a concern.’’

Shelia Butt, 65, of Jonesboro, Ga., said she has endured hurricanes, an earthquake and tornadoes and wasn’t worried about a tropical storm.

‘‘If I am in a place like this I feel safe. I’d been watching out the window ... kind of exciting to see the waves come and go,’’ she said.

Emergency Management Director Donald Langham called for a voluntary evacuation of low-lying areas of Jackson County, which borders Alabama. Langham told county leaders that winds from Ida were predicted to reach sustained speeds of up to 65 mph by 7 p.m. and last for eight to 10 hours.

‘‘We’re looking at an all-night wind event,’’ Langham told the Board of Supervisors.

He said his greatest concern is high amounts of rain fall, storm surge coming around high tide early Tuesday and street flooding.

‘‘There may be some isolated spots that will get some (flooding). I don’t expect it to be anything major,’’ Langham said.

The county has recommended voluntary evacuations for about 150 residents living in flood-prone areas. Despite that, five hours after it opened, only one person had checked into the county’s long shelter. The man, a resident from Alabama, said the shelter was a welcome respite from sleeping in his van.

Doris Moorman, the Red Cross shelter’s manager, said she staffed a similar facility last year during Hurricane Gustav and it housed more than 500 people. She said she’s concerned that residents weren’t taking the threat of Ida as seriously, perhaps letting their Gustav experience lull them into a false sense of security.

‘‘That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be fine this time,’’ she said.

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding closed Monday’s second and third shifts for workers at its shipyards in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss., and Avondale, La. The only exceptions were ship watches, maintenance and security personnel, or anyone notified by a supervisor.

Officials said operations would resume on first shift Tuesday.

Many schools in the three coastal counties of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson let out at midday Monday in anticipation of the storm.

Although Ida was downgraded, emergency officials said the main threats remained heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surges along the coast and the possibility of some damage.

‘‘One of my main concerns is that people will not take this storm seriously now that it has shown signs of weakening,’’ MEMA Director Mike Womack said in a news release. ‘‘Tropical storms are still capable of producing flooding rains and damaging winds and Ida has already proven to be a tough storm to predict.’’