Guardsmen on call as Barbour declares emergency

The Clarion-Ledger, 8/29/8

Mississippi could activate as many as 8,000 National Guard troops today as Gustav looms in the Caribbean and eyes the Gulf Coast for landfall.

Mississippi National Guard spokesman retired Lt. Col. Tim Powell said state troops already are on standby and expects the order to come at any time from the governor’s office.

“In the next day or so, I think our units will be put on state active duty,” he said. “And we’re ready.”

With the storm expected to make landfall Tuesday morning anywhere between Texas and the Florida Panhandle, Gov. Haley Barbour on Thursday declared a state of emergency for the southern region of the state.