Pearl River’s third-highest crest on record causes flooding in Jackson, Mississippi

The Pearl River in Jackson, Mississippi, reached its third-highest crest on record as flooding impacted hundreds of homes and businesses.

The river is currently cresting at 36.7 feet and will go down from that peak soon, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday.

“After days of rising flood waters we do have positive news to report,” Reeves said.

Reeves says that localized flooding continues near the Highway 80 area. The river isn’t expected to drop below major flood stage until sometime Wednesday.

The river’s highest level on record is 43.3 feet, set in April 1979. The next highest level was 39.6 feet, set in May 1983.

Reeves said emergency officials continued to coordinate responses in flooded areas, but Reeves says all immediate needs are being met. Officials said they’ve responded to 16 search and rescue operations across the state.

Several neighborhoods in northeast and downtown Jackson, the state’s capital, were evacuated in anticipation of the flooding. After the governor declared a state of emergency on Saturday, law enforcement officers went door to door urging at least 510 people to leave their homes, Reeves said on Sunday.

Officials estimated several hundred homes were damaged in the flooding.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said Sunday that four injuries had been reported in Grenada County due to hydroplaning. And the issue is expected to remain for some time.

“We don’t anticipate the situation to end any time soon. It will be days before we are out of the woods and the water starts to recede,” Reeves said Sunday.

Hinds County and Jackson emergency officials urged parents to keep their kids out of the water, according to CNN affiliate WAPT.

“There’s a lot of contamination, a lot of sewage. It’s not safe. There’s a lot of swift water, a lot of unknowns. We don’t need a tragedy out of this,” said Hinds County Emergency Management Director Ricky Moore.

More rain is expected to push into the Southeast again this week, with a swath of 2 to 4 inches of rain expected from Texas to Georgia, with locally higher amounts.

Over 150 river gauges remain above flood stage from the Ohio Valley into the Southeast, with another 130 near flood stage.