Flooding affects hundreds of homes, businesses in U.S. Mississippi

Several hundred homes and businesses have been impacted as the Pearl River in Jackson, southern U.S. state of Mississippi, reached its third-highest crest on record on Monday, local officials said.

The river is currently cresting at 36.7 feet (11.18 meters) and will go down from that peak soon, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said Monday, adding that emergency officials have responded to 16 search and rescue operations across the state.

The river isn't expected to drop below major flood stage until sometime Wednesday, according to a CNN report.

"We don't anticipate the situation to end any time soon. It will be days before we are out of the woods and the water starts to recede," Reeves said Sunday. He declared a state of emergency on Saturday.

"There's a lot of contamination, a lot of sewage. It's not safe. There's a lot of swift water, a lot of unknowns. We don't need a tragedy out of this," Hinds County Emergency Management Director Ricky Moore told CNN.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said Sunday that four injuries had been reported in Grenada County due to hydroplaning.

The river had risen above 38 feet (11.58 meters) only twice before, first in 1979 and then again in 1983, according to the Weather Channel.