JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Forecasters say heavy rains are again expected in parts of the flood-ravaged South, prolonging the misery in neighborhoods surrounded by water.

Some of the hardest-hit areas in Mississippi were under a flash flood watch on Tuesday.

The National Weather Service said rainfall amounts of up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) — with higher amounts possible in some spots — were expected to fall in a short amount of time in central Mississippi on Tuesday.

Forecasters say that could cause flash flooding and worsen ongoing river flooding in the region.

The national Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md., is projecting the greatest likelihood of heavy rains in a band from eastern Louisiana across central parts of Mississippi and Alabama and into far west Georgia.

In Mississippi’s capital city of Jackson, authorities warned hundreds of residents not to return home after devastating flooding Monday until they got the all clear. As the high water recedes, officials expect to find damaged roads and problems with water and sewage pipes.

In Tennessee, two houses slid down a muddy bluff into the Tennessee River in the Savannah area over the weekend. Residents had fled before the homes were destroyed by the raging water.

A near-record rainy winter has forced authorities to release water from swollen reservoirs, potentially worsening the flooding for those living downstream.