Warren County is in a state of emergency in anticipation of Hurricane Isaac, which made landfall just west of the mouth of the Mississippi River this morning.

The Board of Supervisors’ declaration expected effects of the category 1 storm “conditions of extreme peril to people and property” due to the storm’s windier eastern side forecasted path across Warren County late today and early Thursday.

The City of Vicksburg declared a similar state of emergency Monday afternoon.

An emergency enables the county to have storm cleanup costs reimbursed by FEMA. An email to board members Tuesday from State Auditor Stacey Pickering laid out do’s and don’ts when it comes to applying for such aid, Board President Bill Lauderdale said.

“It tells us in layman’s language how to get refunds and that sort of thing,” Lauderdale said.

Warren County missed the first round of Mississippi counties declared emergencies for federal aid purposes despite being on the stronger side of Hurricane Isaac.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama declared an emergency in 29 counties — Amite, Clarke, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Stone, Walthall, Wayne, Wilkinson, and Yazoo.

The action makes those counties eligible to have storm-related cleanup costs reimbursed by FEMA. It recognized conditions that started Sunday from then-Tropical Storm Isaac.

John Elfer, director of Warren County Emergency Management, said he was advised by MEMA, the state’s emergency management arm, that Tuesday’s list included counties in a tropical storm warning at the time or are served by Interstate 55 and Interstate 59, prime north-south evacuation routes.

“I expect another advisory when the storm’s over,” Elfer said.

Rainfall predictions for Warren County today through Thursday evening initially called for up to 10 inches of rain, but those predictions were downgraded this morning to about 4 inches. Also, tornadoes were a risk today through Thursday.

Wind speeds could reach between 30 and 60 mph. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, wind speeds in Vicksburg reached category 1 force. On April 4, 2008, winds reached that speed again during a springtime storm driven by straight-line winds.

Supervisors’ action this morning allows county road crews, law enforcement and other employees’ overtime to be reimbursed by the federal government.

A public hearing to discuss the city’s 2012-13 budget is still on for 7 p.m. Thursday, despite likely power outages across Vicksburg and Warren County. In addition, the regular meeting of the City Board will be at 1 p.m. Friday at the convention center.

Entergy has 4,500 contract workers at the ready to handle power outages as the need arises. The utility recorded 18,000 outages in Warren County after Katrina and about 2,200 for Gustav, in September 2008.