Watching the coverage of the horrific flooding in Houston is tough. But it also should be a reminder it has happened here in Jackson. The 1979 Easter Flood swamped Northeast Jackson, out Lakeland Drive and Downtown. Twenty-five inches of rain fell upstream near Louisville, Mississippi. A wall of water barreled down the Pearl toward the sea.
It crested in Jackson at 43.28 feet (flood stage is 28) resulting in $1.5 billion (in today’s dollars) of damage.
It will happen again. And with all the development our Lakeland Drive, it will be more catastrophic.
We watch the tragedy in Houston and know that it could just as easily be us.