WCBI New at Six - 10/09/2020

WCBI New at Six - 10/09/2020

The water is already rising in soggy south louisiana as hurricane delta moves slowly toward the shore.

From galveston, texas, east across miles of gulf coast land, thousands are once again shoring up their homes, packing their cars and heading out of town.

This storm brings a slight risk to north mississippi.

Our chief meteorologist keith gibson is monitoring current conditions - and what it will mean to us tonight and tomorrow.

Keith is in the first alert weather center with the latest details.

First look stinger first look summary: the remnants of hurricane delta will cross north mississippi and west alabama between late friday night and sunday.

The highest severe impacts should occur between sunrise and sunset saturday.

Rainfall between 1-4?, wind gusts 30-40+ mph, and isolated tornadoes remain possible.

Some rain and clouds will linger sunday but the upcoming work week is looking pretty nice.

Severe weather threats friday night: cloudy with areas of rain developing.

Lows in the low 70s.

Winds ene 10-20 mph.

Saturday: mostly cloudy with areas of locally heavy rain.

One or two arcing rain bands east of delta's center of circulation will lead to most of the active weather in our region.

Between 1-4?

May fall and that could lead to some flooding issues.

Sustained winds between 15-25 mph with gusts 30-40+ or higher may occur leading to some scattered power outages and downed trees.

A few isolated tornadoes also can't be ruled out at any time from about sunrise to about sunset.

The highest odds of them may occur roll vo in monitor the golden triangle won't face the brunt of hurricane delta but as chief meteorologist keith gibson just told us, we could be in for some strong weather saturday.

Lowndes county emergency management director cindy lawrence met with local first responders today to map out a plan.

Wcbi reporter stephen pimpo was at that meeting and joins us in studio with more.

Joey, cindy lawrence says her team is prepared for high winds, rain and even the chance for a spin- up tornado.

"yeah it could start off as a drill but it could end up as a reality."

That's the mindset lowndes county emergency management director cindy lawrence takes when preparing for severe weather.

"we're not looking at the hurricane they're talking about coming to the coast.

We're looking at the wind and the rain."

Lawrence says the national weather service told her to be ready for 30- 40 mile-an hour winds, 1-4 inches of rain and the chance for a spin- up tornado.

"we're no stranger to tornados.

We've probably had 10-12 tornados and we know that most of our tornados have been devastating."

Dozens of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed by the ef3 tornado in 2019.

The fallout from hurricane delta is expected to reach lowndes county some time after 2 am.

Lowndes county has schools ready to serve as tornado shelters and the sheriff's department and columbus police will provide security if needed.

County and city fire crews are at the ready for search and rescue and damage assessment.

"they'll start gathering their teams, checking equipment and getting everything ready to go in case that event happens."

The different agencies' history of working together has them ready to act.

"it's important to know faces and to know people and to work together that when there is a disaster in your area, we all have one goal and that is to protect the lives of our citizens in our county."

Lawrence's advice to the public is to continue to stay vigilent and keep track of the storm's path.

You can do that by following wcbi news and wcbi weather on facebook and twitter and watch for live updates if the situation warrants.

Roll vo in monitor hurricane delta is putting a damper on the state fair but as they say... the show must go on.

The longest running and one of the largest events in the state will close up early tonight at 10 pm.

Gates open tomorrow at noon, instead of 10 am.

People needing to find shelter while the gates are open can go to the mississippi coliseum.

Masks and sanitizer will be in the coliseum, along with law enforcement, to ensure everyone is safe.

Wcbi new at six stinger doctors with the mississippi state medical association say a coronavirus resurgence is imminent.

In a public zoom meeting today, dr. thomas dobbs warns the public to prepare for a rise in covid-19 case numbers.

Dobbs says the state could see a restriction on elective surgeries in the near future.

Wearing a mask and social distancing is still the best defence against the virus according to doctors at today's meeting.

Dobbs says he's disappointed that masks will not be required at the state fair.

"let me ask this question, is anyone going to be surprised when we see a resurgence in coronavirus... you know, this is an all armed forces response.

We don't fight a war just with the navy, we don't fight a war just with the army... we fight it with army, then navy, then marines, then airforce.

But the masks are the army and distancing is the navy, we've got to use all these things together..."

Dobbs also says that people should plan on a mello halloween with limited interaction with people not within your immediate family.

Covid-19 cases are on the rise and so are hospitalization.

That's according to today's numbers... the mississippi state department of health is reporting 862 new cases today, along with six deaths.

606 people are now in hospitals across the state with confirmed or suspected coronavirus symptoms. 139 patients are in i.c.u., with 66 on a ventilator.

In our area, lee county is reporting the highest number of new cases with 39.

Itawamba has 24 and chickasaw has 19.

Lafayette and pontotoc counties are both reporting 15 new cases each.

Intro winston county regional correctional facility is on a tight budget.

Inmates with covid- 19 have received treatment and the bills are rolling in.

Law enforcement have applied for reimbursement from the cares act but are waiting for an answer.

Our stephanie poole joins us live in the studio with more on this expensive impact.

Joey, during a pandemic, even inmates can become infected in their cells.éé and sending them to the doctor is costly.

éé sheriff jason pugh tells me the while the debt keeps growing, no money has been given back.éé money to operate the winston county regional correctional facility is running low... that's what sheriff jason pugh says after his jail is delayed another day for cares acts reimbursement.

" the mississippi legislature went ahead and marked 4 million dollars for regional jails ,which is the kind of jail i run, to help reimburse them for covid expenses.

We are turning those expenses in.

They have to go through a process where they are reviewed by the people with the department of corrections before we receive reimbursement."

Pugh says nearly 30 inmates received treatment for covid-19, leaving the mdoc with an 80-thousand dollar bill.

" with correctional facilities, any overturns becomes the responsibility of the county not the responsibility of the mississippi department of corrections.

When you're running a very tight budget and then you have a covid expense for around 100- thousand dollars quite obviously it is devastating to your bottom line."

Pugh says winston county was one of the first counties to submit paperwork for reimbursement.

But after waiting for several months, a check still hasn't come.

"it's a very big burden on my supervisors to play that juggling act to figure out where they're getting that money from to back this up until this money comes in."

Emergency management director buddy king doesn't know how next year's budget will look after this nightmare.

" in our budget year of 2020 we came up with a 300- thousand deficit for covid, that money was not there for that year, it does put you in a behind position for the county.

You can't budget from disaster, you don't know what the costs are."

King is hopefull the the funds will arrive soon.

" fortunately for this disaster, the state government and the federal government have responded well while and made available funds so the county can recover those expenses that were occurred because of covid."

Butt sots "we are in high hopes that the money will be forth coming quickly.

I've talked with other counties who have received money so we are really ready to see that here."

Pugh says the paperwork from the cares act has been approved.

Wcbi breaking news stinger 100920-gfx breaking news out of calhoun county tonight... an arrest is made in a deadly derma shooting.

24-year-old wanya harper is charged with murder.

Calhoun county sheriff greg pollan says harper and another suspect went to deundray garth's home on september 17th on underwood drive.

Garth was shot and died.

The homicide remains under investigation.

Derma police, calhoun county deputies, and the mississippi bureau of investigation are handling the case.

Top a pickens county man is indicted on several sex crimes.

44-year-old james wilson is now charged with rape, sexual abuse, and sodomy all in the second degree.

According to court documents, wilson is accused of having sexual relations with a person that is quote "mentally incapacitated" end quote.

Wilson was given a one hundred thousand dollar bond.

He remains in the pickens county jail.

Wilson's mugshot was not available today.

Stinger coming up next we see how high school students are exploring future career options virtually.

Roll this week, thousands of high school students from across the region were scheduled to be at an annual career fair.

But covid 19 means the "imagine the possibilities" career expo is going virtual.

Wcbi's allie martin has more.

Students at shannon high school are logging on to this year's virtual career expo.

Because of concerns over covid 19, the decision was made to bring the 18 career pathways, videos from area professionals and other material, to the students.

Nats that information can be accessed either online, or through an app.

And shannon high school career coach dee coleman will work with teachers to help them develop lessons around the material.

"i think since it's all virtual, one thing kids have in their hands is cell phones, they can access it anytime, but also i will get with teachers at shannon and figure out how we can integrate the career expo into lesson plans."

While the virtual career expo is available to seventh through twelfth graders, it targets high school sophomores.

That is a change from previous years when eighth graders visited the expo.

Stewart mcmillan is the toyota wellspring and create project manager and says teachers favored the change.

"the switch to tenth grade allows students to have more of a deep dive, thinking about the rest of their high school career and looking at post secondary, be that, going straight into a profession , a two year community college, four year university, to meet their needs."

Students like the new format and understand the importance of making plans for life after high school.

"it's going fast, i was just in ninth grade, i'm already a junior."

Since the career expo is virtual, it is available throughout the entire school year to students in all 17 counties served by create.

Allie martin, wcbi news there are prizes from apple computers for tenth graders who log on, and complete videos and other assignments.

Stinger weather open summary: the remnants of hurricane delta will cross north mississippi and west alabama between late friday night and sunday.

The highest severe impacts should occur between sunrise and sunset saturday.

Rainfall between 1-4?, wind gusts 30-40+ mph, and isolated tornadoes remain possible.

Some rain and clouds will linger sunday but the upcoming work week is looking pretty nice.

Severe weather threats friday night: cloudy with areas of rain developing.

Lows in the low 70s.

Winds ene 10-20 mph.

Saturday: mostly cloudy with areas of locally heavy rain.

One or two arcing rain bands east of delta's center of circulation will lead to most of the active weather in our region.

Between 1-4?

May fall and that could lead to some flooding issues.

Sustained winds between 15-25 mph with gusts 30-40+ or higher may occur leading to some scattered power outages and downed trees.

A few isolated tornadoes also can't be ruled out at any time from about sunrise to about sunset.

The highest odds of them may occur during the afternoon hours during peak heating.

Temperatures hold steady in the 70s all day long.

Saturday night: cloudy with areas of rain.

Lows in the upper 60s.

Sunday: mostly cloudy with lingering showers.

Highs in the mid to upper 70s.

Sunday night: partly to mostly cloudy.

Lows in the 60s.

Monday: turing partly cloudy.

Warmer highs in the mid to upper 80s.

Tuesday-friday: mostly sunny and quiet.

Highs in the upper 70s and 80s are favored through thursday with sharply cooler upper 60s and lower 70s by friday.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger ole miss and alabama continue to prepare to play in a hurricane game..more information on how the team's are getting ready to brace the storm, next in sports mississippi state football... making the trek up to lexington... facing kentucky tomorrow night... familiar territory for bulldogs head coach mike leach... he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the wildcats in the late 90s... both teams coming off disappointing losses... kentucky is favored by three against the bulldogs... the good news for mike leach's club is it looks like star running back kylin hill will be available this week... according to the head man... he was knocked out of last week's loss to arkansas early on... football on saturday has been montiored throughout the week while hurricane delta makes landfall although there were considerations for moving saturday's evening match-up between ole miss and alabama there's always been a chance the two teams opt to play ball on the original day in unfavorable weather conditions head coach nick saban says playing in wet weather this weekend is what the crimson tide have been preparing to do all week saban: "everything we did today was with a wet ball.

We did about half of practice yesterday wet ball.

Today everybody that handled the ball it was wet.

That's all we can do to prepare for it.

We can't make it rain so i think handling the ball is the most important thing.

I think it's important to have the mindset of getting used to handling the ball so it's not an issue when you're playing a game."

Hurricane games are nothing new for ole miss head coach lane kiffin after spending the last three seasons at florida atlantic although preparing to play in a hurricane presents different challenges as ole miss works to prepare the team for weather adversity, coach kiffin says the weather is just one of those things out of the team's control right now, the rebels are focusing on the things the team can control kiffin: "you know it happened a lot in south florida.

So it makes it difficult both sides.

You know because you have to keep your feet on defense.

Offensive, obviously the passing game becomes difficult.

So, don't have any magical forumla for it.

I think we all know what the issues are."

As of now, ole miss and 2nd ranked alabama will still be kicking off on saturday..the only change is the game has been pushed back an hour and will now start at 6:30 central time you can watch that game on espn....we'll update you as the storm develops and should anything change... mississippi state is able to evade the weather this week with a match-up in lexington against kentucky on saturday kick-off also at 6:30 pm on the s-e-c network...we'll have the highlights tomorrow night for you here on wcbi choctaw county with arguably the most impressive performance we showed you on end zone last night... the chargers took down houston 59- 36... the chargers have come a long way offensively... they were shut out two weeks ago against clarksdale..

Quarterback tylan carter balled out... he had 4 passing touchdowns... three on the ground as well and 270 rushing yards..

He certainly has player of the week potential..

Coach roberts was proud of his group last night..

"it's a really big win for us.

Really just can't say anymore about the effort from our guys.

Even though they had a few points scored on us, we had a couple good interceptions late in the game that put us in a good position offensively to slowly start to put the game away.

At the end of the day, i'm just proud of them.

I think they stepped up in a big way against a really good opponent."

The chargers play against ripley next friday.

When we return...chief meteorologist keith gibson will have a last look at your forecast.

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