James White, right, helps fi ll sandbags with James Lewis …

Photo by Associated Press | published: September 2, 2011

James White, right, helps fi ll sandbags with James Lewis at the Harrison County Road Department in Gulfport, Miss., on Friday. Also pictured, from left, Teresa Norman and Glenn Cunningham. Jackson County, one of Mississippi’s three coastal counties, declared a state of emergency Friday morning because of a tropical weather system in the Gulf of Mexico.