Storm-weary Mississippi residents are facing another possible round of severe weather this weekend, days after a deadly tornado plowed through the state.

National Weather Service meteorologist Daniel Lamb said Tuesday that a “potent” storm system could hit Friday or Saturday, possibly stalling and dumping enough rain to cause some flooding. He said it’s too early to make a clear forecast, but the weather service is watching developments.

“I wouldn’t make any comparisons to the last system because that’s something that’s very rare and exceptional,” Lamb said.

Tornadoes spread through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama Saturday, killing 10 in Mississippi and two in Alabama. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said it was the worst storm the state has had since Hurricane Katrina nearly five years ago.

A local emergency declaration will be taken up by Warren County supervisors Monday to put the county in line to have overtime costs incurred by Saturday’s tornado reimbursed.

Such a move also puts private citizens in line for assistance, pending the result of state and federal emergency management workers’ assessment of damage in Mississippi. A presidential declaration will be sought to free up Federal Emergency Management Agency money for local governments’ police officers, sheriff’s deputies and other responders.

The tornadoes injured at least 49 people and damaged about 700 homes in Mississippi. Gov. Haley Barbour has asked President Obama to declare major disasters in Yazoo and Choctaw counties, where residents could obtain individual assistance and expanded unemployment services.

Eleven homes were counted among lost structures on Sea Island Drive in Warren County’s Eagle Lake community. Teams from Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Small Business Administration were still tallying damage totals, said Warren County Emergency Management Director Gwen Coleman. Results of those visits here and in 16 other counties will determine whether the declaration is expanded, a release from Barbour’s office said Tuesday.

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney estimated Tuesday that insured losses in Mississippi will be at least $50 million and uninsured losses will be at least $10 million.

“We do expect some relief for businesses with limited insurance, like low-cost loans,” Chaney said.

The FEMA eventually could provide financial assistance for temporary rental housing for people who lost their homes in the tornado. FEMA also could provide grants to help with repairs or rebuilding.

MEMA director Mike Womack said MEMA has about 50 portable cottages on the coast that were used as temporary housing after Katrina but are now empty, and those could be brought to people left homeless by tornadoes.

However, Womack said a person who accepts a cottage might become ineligible for financial assistance from FEMA. He said FEMA trailers would only be brought to tornado victims if there is not enough rental housing available. He said he does not expect to see a need for the trailers.

Crews were still cutting thousands of fallen trees, bulldozing debris from ruined buildings and putting blue tarps on damaged roofs.

Debris cleanup is also a reimbursable expense. Coleman told county supervisors Tuesday a private site off Mississippi 465 was being considered by MDEQ as an approved debris collection hub. Vegetation of all types that are downed during storms must be taken to sites approved by the agency. Reimbursements totaling more than $174,000 for overtime incurred by the Warren County Road Department employees after Hurricane Katrina were delayed more than four years after it was learned that debris was disposed in pits and holes on nonapproved properties.

A new flood ordinance is also expected to be adopted Monday, which figures to affect rebuilding efforts in Eagle Lake. New guidelines OK’d at the behest of MEMA stipulate new construction in special flood hazard areas must be raised at least 18 inches above 100-year flood elevations, defined by FEMA as places that would be inundated by a flood having a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year. Coleman said a “substantial damage” clause in the ordinance covers incidents outside of floods.

Owners of damaged mobile homes must receive a letter of intent from the state Department of Health clearing the property of any improper discharge from septic systems before any building permits are issued by the county, Coleman said.

Holmes County emergency management director Jerome Granderson said Tuesday that 53 homes and trailers in the county were destroyed and 44 were damaged. Pine trees snapped like twigs, he said. He said people with chain saws have been clearing timber from roads and driveways.

“It’s neighbor helping neighbor,” Granderson said.

Holmes County Chancery Clerk Dorothy Jean Smith toured the damaged areas and said homes were wiped from their slabs.

“There were a couple of people I talked to, they didn’t know where their vehicles were,” Smith said.

In Yazoo City, Tri-C Construction company owner Richard Powell stood Monday afternoon on the roof of a Double Quick convenience store on U.S. 49.

Yellow insulation flapped in exposed areas where the exterior walls meet the roof.

“With a storm like that, some damage was inevitable,” said Powell, who arrived at the store about a half-hour after the tornado.

He said repairs to the store should take about a week. The tornado ripped away an aluminum canopy and damaged three of the five gasoline pumps. On the highway next to the store, a Yield sign leaned at a 45-degree angle.

Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.