The City of Biloxi’s preparedness outreach event returns for a second year with a one-day educational event next week at the Donal M. Snyder Sr. Community Center.
The beginning of hurricane season is just around the corner and the city wants to remind residents about the precautions they should take before, during and after a storm.
The free, informative event, “R U Ready?” takes place Wednesday from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Snyder Center, 2520 Pass Road, with a wealth of useful information from emergency managers, and state agencies and local businesses.
Booths will be set up throughout the facility with information on shelter locations, evacuation routes, flood insurance, transportation, pet safety, telephone safety checks, fire safety, hurricane prep kits, boat safety and evacuations, electrical safety, recovery clean up, and more.
Refreshments will also be available during the event.
See the flyer
Do you have flood insurance? Check into it
The City of Biloxi, as part of its continuing efforts to educate property owners about the dangers of storms and flooding, is reminding residents about the importance of having flood insurance, regardless of where they live.
“More than 20 percent of the claims in the National Flood Insurance Program are from outside identified flood zones,” says a postcard being mailed recently to all residents of Biloxi, “and claims outside the flood risk area account for a third of disaster assistance for flooding.”
The postcards, part of the city’s award-winning public outreach efforts, also remind residents about the importance of buying flood insurance before hurricane season, which begins June 1. The postcard notes that flood insurance policies take 30 days to become effective and no policies will be sold when a storm is in the Gulf of Mexico.
See the flood insurance postcard
See online Storm & Flood Preparedness info
Military training turns noisy at former school site
A military training exercise Wednesday night at the dormant Beauvoir Elementary School turned into more than police expected after three Black Hawk helicopters and simulated machine gun fire became part of the two-and-a-half-hour exercise.
Police have fielded a handful of calls from neighbors asking about the ruckus, which apparently involved about 20 service members.
“It’s all done with the approval of the city and Biloxi Public Schools, which owns the site,” said Biloxi Police Chief John Miller. “Training of this sort has been done numerous times, even at this site, in fact, and they’re usually in and out before anyone even notices.”
Added Miller: “This time it was just a little noisier than expected, and had we known we would have made more of an effort to let the nearby residents know.”
