Meridian City Officials Anticipate Hurricane Laura Evacuees Coming To The City

Hurricane Laura has now weakened to a tropical storm, but it still presents a large threat to those in its path. The city of Meridian believes it will see many evacuees from the areas in line of the storm.

Although East Mississippi is currently expecting no severe impact from Hurricane Laura, Meridian city officials anticipate evacuees from the Gulf Coast and Louisiana migrating to the city, seeking shelter from the hurricane.

Meridian’s Chief Administrative Officer said that the city is prepared to see many evacuees entering the city as a safe haven. He also shared that although Meridian may not be greatly impacted by Laura, the city is still facing the threat of COVID-19.

“We are fully expecting evacuees from southeast and southwest Louisiana to come to Meridian, that’s typically what happens when there’s storms on the southern part of the state. People will evacuate to an area that they believe will be less impacted. So, we are expecting that to happen. One of the things I’m concerned with is as we get more people coming into the city, is that we make sure that we continue to be vigilant about wearing our masks and proper PPE and all of those types of things,” said Eddie Kelly, Meridian CAO.

Additionally, he stated that there’s always a possibility the evacuees will remain

in Meridian, but it is all dependent on the devastation Laura leaves behind.

“Until we know what the impact of Laura really is, we don’t know if people will come here and remain, that’s always a possibility, I understand that the impact is greater than some may have expected. There’s always a possibility that people can come from a devastated area, move north and decide to stay, because of the storms that typically come in and out of those areas,” said Kelly.

Officials are still advising local residents to remain prepared, and have an emergency plan in place, in case severe weather does make its way towards our area.