Another round of heavy rain was forecast for the waterlogged South this week, adding to the misery for residents of swamped Mississippi and Tennessee.

“Rainfall totals for all of this week may be in the neighborhood of 1-5 inches,” AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. “The past 10 days have brought 5-7 inches of rain in the area.”

The National Weather Service said “these rains will be falling across areas of the South that are experiencing historic flooding, exacerbating these flooding conditions. Drier weather is likely Wednesday across the hardest-hit flooding regions of Mississippi, but additional rains may push back into this region late Wednesday night into Thursday.”

The weather service said the greatest likelihood of heavy rain is in a band from eastern Louisiana across central parts of Mississippi and Alabama and into far west Georgia. Flash flood watches were in place across much of the region.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said floodwaters will begin to recede Tuesday in the Jackson area, but as those waters recede, they will head downstream, possibly creating new problems in counties along the Pearl River south of Jackson.

Reeves said counties south of Jackson must be ready for flooding headed downstream.

The Pearl River in Jackson crested at the third-highest level on record Monday, at 36.67 feet, the weather service reported. 

In Jackson, Mississippi’s state capital, authorities warned hundreds of residents not to return home until they got the all clear. As the high water recedes, officials expect to find damaged roads and problems with water and sewage pipes.

“Please do not move back into your neighborhood or into your home until authorities and officials give you the OK to do so,” Reeves said.

The floods have damaged hundreds of homes, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said.

It will likely be days or even weeks before the full extent of damage is known.

Jackson has already seen 19.9 inches of rain so far this year, the greatest year-to-date rainfall recorded in at least half a century of record-keeping, the Capital Weather Gang said. 

A near-record rainy winter has forced authorities to release water from swollen reservoirs, potentially worsening the flooding for those living downstream.

In the Savannah, Tennessee, area, two houses slid down a muddy bluff just below the Pickwick Dam as the Tennessee Valley Authority was releasing more than 2.5 million gallons per second, adding to the anguish for owners of about 75 flooded properties downstream. 

Contributing: The Associated Press; Lici Beveridge and Giacomo Bologna, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

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