Tar balls reported on Mississippi mainland; Alex heads into Gulf

CNN Wire Staff

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://www.cnn.com/video/us/2010/06/26/sot.allen.production.cnn.640×360.jpg caption="Alex re-strengthens to tropical storm." width=300 height=169]

(CNN) - Mississippi officials reported oily tar balls washing up on their mainland shores for the first time Sunday, as authorities throughout the Gulf Coast region kept a wary eye on Tropical Storm Alex.

"It has hit our shores," said Pascagoula, Mississippi, Mayor Robbie Maxwell, adding that tar balls washed up on a nearby stretch of beach during the afternoon Sunday.

"This is what we've been expecting. We had hoped and prayed we would somehow miss this, but it's hit us now. The good news is that for the last five or six weeks we've been preparing to attack it when it hit our shores, and that's exactly what we've done," Maxwell said.

A 23-person crew was out on the beach Sunday afternoon, collecting tar balls, he said.

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