Disaster Recovery

Poultry producers across the Southeast have plenty of experience cleaning up after storm damage to broiler and breeder houses, but they now have new guidelines for hurricane preparedness and recovery.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The beginning of May brought a welcome sight for Mississippi producers: sunny skies and drying fields.

For the second straight year, precipitation levels well above normal in the winter and early spring have slowed planting significantly across much of Mississippi. Gaps of days between rains have not been long enough until now for many fields to sufficiently dry. Some fields have been under water for more than a year. 

Easter Sunday’s severe weather and tornadoes left landowners in eight south Mississippi counties with battered timber stands. According to estimates by the Mississippi Forestry Commission, around 13,000 total acres of timber in Covington, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lawrence, Marion, Smith and Walthall counties suffered about $14.9 million in damages.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Social distancing guidelines already urged by federal and state health agencies should be followed closely to prevent exposure to COVID-19 during post-storm cleanup.

A severe weather outbreak April 12 caused widespread damage across the Southeast, but south Mississippi was hit particularly hard after a series of tornadoes left 11 deaths, several injuries and property destruction in its wake.