Obama Declares Hurricane Emergency in Mississippi
U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in a second state, Mississippi, to cope with the expected impact of Hurricane Isaac.
The move followed a similar declaration for Louisiana issued on Tuesday and came as parts of Mississippi and neighboring states were placed under hurricane and tropical storm warnings.
Declaring a state of emergency allows a president to authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other government departments to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
Isaac was upgraded Tuesday to hurricane status and was on track for New Orleans seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the "Big Easy" and killed 1,800 people across the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The storm was expected to make landfall later in the day.
Source: Agence France Presse
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