BILOXI, Miss. — The Biloxi City Council this morning declared a State of Emergency due to Hurricane Ike, which was flooding city streets for the second morning.
Mayor A.J. Holloway said Gov. Barbour and the Harrison County Commissioners were also declaring an emergency, which will make the state and county eligible for federal reimbursement for storm-related expenses.
The Council also adopted a Debris Management Plan, which Jonathan Kiser of Neel-Schaffer engineering said could make the city eligible for an extra 5 percent reimbursement from FEMA. Under a pilot program, FEMA is increasing its reimbursement to cities that are prepared with a pre-event contract and a debris management plan.
The flooding this morning in Biloxi was higher than Thursday, but still below the high water marks from Hurricane Gustav over Labor Day Weekend. Flooded streets and blowing sand made travel along the Coast difficult.
