Officials are predicting a rainy Friday that will bring more flooding as the ground is saturated to full capacity.

National Weather Service meteorologist Christopher Rainer said today the central part of the state can expect one or two inches of rain, with areas along and south of Highway 84 looking at possibly three inches of rain.

The rain, he said, will not be as widespread as what the area saw on Tuesday and Wednesday, but flash floods could still be a problem.

WLBT meteorologist Patrick Ellis said the problem with that rain, even in the lower numbers, is that the ground at this point can’t handle any more water.

“Usually that’s not much, but it could cause problems because we’re so saturated. Quick runoff causes quick flooding,” Ellis said. “Where we’re going in the next couple of days, the pattern doesn’t change that much — it won’t be like Tuesday and Wednesday, it’ll be typical summer downpours, but those summer downpours can be quite heavy and the soil can’t take anymore.”

Another problem to anticipate, Ellis said, is the eroding of the roads.

“The heavy amounts of rain that we’ve gotten, we’ve got potholes because of the rainfall. That’s going to be area-wide,” he said. “That may be exacerbated if we continue to have rain that will erode those areas further.”

The Pearl River, Rainer said, is currently at 33.11 feet, and is expected to crest near 36 by Tuesday. Ellis said Old Brandon Road, areas in and around northeast Jackson and other areas that flooded in 2020, are back in the line of fire.

“I don’t think we have many areas right now where there is prevalent water over the roads,” he said. “That will change with the river cresting, especially next week.”

A release from the city of Pearl Friday morning said city employees are working on solutions to move water out by drainage and have made great strides, comparing the 15 homes that took damage to 168 that were damaged in 2018’s September floods.