[9/11/2001] Security at federal agencies and Grand Gulf Nuclear Station was tightened this morning after explosions in New York and Washington, D.C.

As local residents reacted to the terror in the United States, a prayer service for the area was called for 6 tonight on the steps of the Old Court House Museum

At the regional airport in Mound, four planes were ordered to land after the FAA ordered all planes to the ground nationwide. Vicksburg Tallulah Regional Airport manager Randy Woods said centers in Memphis and Dallas have been ordering planes to land at any available airport.

A spokesman for Waterways Experiment Station on Halls Ferry Road said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers installation has increased guards without awaiting orders to do so.

“We are taking prudent security measures,” said Billy Bridges, WES public affairs officer.

He said the gate to the Information Technology Laboratory has been closed, as have two little-used gates to the main WES campus. A guard has been stationed at the normally unmanned front gate.

On East Clay, work was continuing at the Vicksburg District. “We are under the appropriate heightened levels of security and will be conducting business as usual,” said Patty K. Bates, a public affairs officer.

Diane Parks, a spokesman for Entergy, said security forces at Grand Gulf were being briefed early this morning following the explosions.

“Our security forces at the nuclear plant are in a heightened state of awareness,” Parks said. “Those facilities are designed to withstand a lot more than the World Trade Center.”

Vicksburg Police Chief Mitchell Dent said he had ordered city police officers to be especially alert for any suspicious activity near government buildings and installations in the area.