This purpose of this page is to help provide information regarding Hurricane Katrina and the impact that
it made on Walthall County and Tylertown, MS
For the most part Tylertown and Walthall County are very fortunate. As many of you know, we suffered
a great deal of wind damage and many fallen trees, quite a few on homes, damaged roofs, downed
power lines and poles, etc. While this is disturbing, we are thankful that most of the losses will hopefully
be restored over time. We are now in the process of rebuilding our community with a great deal of hard
work and effort from many sources including generous volunteers.
The Walthall County Board of Supervisors, the Town of Tylertown, along with numerous volunteers
worked diligently to clear the roads for passage and help as much as possible in aiding local citizens
during this unprecedented time.
Gas was scarce since it was limited to what citizens had in their vehicles prior to the hurricane. Now, all
of the local gas stations have opened and gas is readily available. We are all thankful for that.
Power has been fully restored and all of the residents and businesses are thankful for that.
We would like to let our neighboring counties in Mississippi and parishes in Louisiana to know that we do
have available industrial space should a company need to relocate from a hard hit area. For the most
part, all of these facilities are undamaged. Please review the sites under the Available Industrial Sites
link. We will try to work with you to help you get back in business as soon as possible. Please contact
us at (601) 876-2680 or email walthallchamber@bellsouth.net
We are still worried about our downtown. Some business owners own their buildings, others lease. We
fear that the building owners may try to pass the expense of the repairing the buildings to the business
that are leasing from them who may not be able to afford the additional expense and elect to close.
Another concern that we have is that the building owners may elect not to restore the buildings. Should
either happen, we feel that our downtown is at risk of becoming a ghost town. We would like to work
toward a solution that would prevent that from happening. Any ideas that you may have would be
greatly appreciated. Please call or email us. We would like to return to the quality of life that we all
loved about this quaint little community.
However, one thing that we have all learned is that some "necessities" are really "luxuries" and that life is
truly precious.
Sadly enough, leaders from Walthall County, Lawrence County, Copiah County, Washington Parish, St.
Tammany Parish, Jefferson Parish, and Orleans Parish have been working together to secure a four-
lane evacuation route designed with contra-flow in mind. It would provide a direct route north out of New
Orleans utilizing LA HWY 25 and MS HWY 27. Not only was it expected to be the best way out of New
Orleans, it was thought that it would be the best way for emergency crews to return for recovery efforts
and utility companies to transport equipment into New Orleans.
For more information on the LA25/MS27 Emergency Evacuation Route, please utilize the following link.
HURRICANE EVACUATION ROUTE PROJECT
Read about the impact of Hurricane Katrina to the dairy industry HERE
The Walthall County Chamber of Commerce started a "Hurricane Relief for Walthall County" fund.
100% of the funds will be used in the manner that the executive board feels is most necessary. Funds
may be used for a variety of uses. Should you make a donation, please feel free to make suggestions
on how you would prefer to see your donation utilized.
Send Payments to:
"Hurricane Relief for Walthall County"
Walthall County Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 227
Tylertown, MS 39667
Make checks payable to the Walthall County Chamber of Commerce with "Hurricane Relief" written in
the memo field.
The Town of Tylertown also has a "Downtown Development Fund" that will be used to revitalize
downtown Tylertown. Please call city hall at (601) 876-4011 and ask for Becky Dyson.
On a larger scale, to make a donation for the regional hurricane effort, please consider making a
donation to the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, Operation Blessing, or any other reputable
organization.
Red Cross 1-866-Get Info
Red Cross 1-800-Help Now (Donations)
Operation Blessing 1-800-436-6348
Walthall County is full of hardworking and conscientious citizens and community leaders and we will get
through this and resume the quality of life that we all cherish in this progressive community.
Best Friends Animal Society is seeking volunteers at the St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown. To
volunteer e-mail hrf@bestfriends.org or call 435-644-2001, ext 398.
FEMA: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) TTY: 1-800-462-7585
Special Thanks
Howell, NJ – The Emergency Management Services collected approximately $100,000.00 to help
hurricane victims. They kindly adopted Tylertown, MS and contacted our Mayor, Fire Chief, and Police
Chief, among others. Steve, Mike, and Danny made the long trip from New Jersey and delivered goods
and supplies in (2) 18-wheeler trucks. While here, they met with our Mayor, Fire Chief, Police Chief,
Assistant Police Chief, and others. Their Police Department outfitted our Police Department in much
needed new gear. Their Fire Department has donated over $18,000.00 for equipment that our fire
department desperately needed.
Special Thanks
Howell- NJ - Susan Dominguez, the Executive Director of the Howell Chamber of Commerce, worked with
Jewel Greer, from the Division of Human Services to help our local residents in need. Howell, NJ
purchased $6,000.00 of Thanksgiving dinners from the Piggly Wiggly and Sunflower food stores which
not only provided much appreciated dinners. On a separate occasion Susan worked with Jewel and
another $ 8,000 worth of dinners was purchased from Sunflower and Piggly Wiggly to help those families
in need. This also helped our local groceries during a time that all businesses were not operating at the
capacity prior to the hurricane. During the holidays Howell, NJ adopted over 90 families that were in
need, Tylertown residents and evacuees. The kind and generous folks of Howell, NJ will forever be in
our hearts and prayers.
Special Thanks
FRANKLIN COUNTY, GA -- On October 19, 2005 a very special group of volunteers from county and
local government headed back home to Georgia after an exhaustive and productive 8 days of using
their resources and energy to help local residents clear trees out of their yards. They did this with the
blessing of their local officials and spent their time here working harder than anyone can possibly
imagine. Our Mayor, Ed Hughes, extends his sincere appreciation and assurance that should we have
the opportunity, we will send a crew to help another community to help their people, just as these fine
men helped ours. This effort from Franklin County has taught us a great lesson about good will and we
thank them for that, too.
Special Thanks
HILLSDALE, Mich. (AP) -- Volunteers from Baptist churches around Michigan recently headed to
Tylertown, Miss., as part of the hurricane relief efforts spearheaded by Southern Baptist Disaster
Relief. August Peters and Melissa Broughman, of Hillsdale and Sarah Broughman, of Frontier, were
among the group, the Hillsdale Daily News reported. They took four truckloads of food and water from
the American Red Cross. Sleeping on the floor of a local Baptist church, the group worked to distribute
thousands of meals to people in the town. "We provide the labor and the equipment," said Peters,
pastor of Frontier Baptist Church. "It was hard work." The trio left Saturday to return home after their
group was relieved by another Southern Baptist group. "When it was all said and done, the muscle
aches, sprained ankles and fatigue were offset by the feeling of having done something meaningful. It's
just such an overwhelming feeling," Sarah Broughman said.
Special Thanks
JACKSON, MS - Members of the Meadowbrook Church of Christ have pooled together their resources to
assemble a truckload of useful items. On September 9, 2005 two church members delivered paper
goods, personal hygiene items, non-perishable food, etc. to Tylertown for distribution to those in need.
We are in the process of getting these products to the folks that are in need. Many thanks to our
neighbors in Central Mississippi for this generous gift. They are also sending a work crew armed with
chainsaws to clear the parking lot at the library so that it may be used by DHHS to take applications next
week to identify those with special needs. Thank you Meadowbrook Church of Christ!
Special Thanks
JACKSON, MS - The employees and families of Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush donated and acquired
additional supplies from the Shelter Distribution Depot in Jackson. If that wasn't enough, Tom Cook,
former Governor Ronnie Muscrove, Jim Blackwood, and Jay Norris loaded down two trailers, headed
south to Tylertown, and unloaded the supplies - all on their day off! They delivered baby diapers, paper
towels, canned goods, juice, water, personal hygiene items, etc. to help us help those in need in our
community. A BIG THANK YOU to all involved in this generous gesture. (9/11/05) More info here
Special Thanks
GRAND RAPIDS -- Trucks from grocery and general merchandise retailer Meijer Inc. have made the trip
south to areas in need of food, water and other supplies following Hurricane Katrina. The trucks carried
57,000 bottles of water and juice and 250,000 servings of granola bars, trail mix and baby food. The
delivery was conducted in conjunction with International Aid, a Spring Lake-based relief agency. After
arriving in Wesson, Miss., the trucks were directed to Tylertown, a community near the Louisiana border
where evacuees were being taken. The population has swelled," Jeff Shoemaker, 34, one of the
drivers, told The Grand Rapids Press for a Sunday story. "People are still arriving." In Tylertown, two
Meijer trucks were sent to a warehouse, where the supplies would be delivered by the National Guard.
The final truck unloaded at a Baptist Church, where a food line was set up. People are just looking for
help, that's all they want," Shoemaker said. "They're just stuck there."
Special Thanks
HORNELL, NY - An 18 wheel, 48 foot tractor trailer packed with goods for TYLERTOWN, MISSISSIPPI
left Sunday at noon. Silk Road transport provided the tractor trailer and is picking up all the costs of
delivering the jam packed trailer to the community adopted by WLEA/WCKR listeners. The tractor-tailer
is filled with food, diapers, baby food and formula and clothing as well as mecical supplies and even
tarps to cover roofs destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
WLEA/WCKR adopted Tylertown for people-to-people assistance after the stations contacted the
congressman who represents southern Mississippi. He was asked for a community not unlike the Hornell
area as a location our listeners could help. Congressman Chip Pickering selected Tylertown with a
population of 2,000 serving a county of 14,000. In addition to all the goods donated, listeners have also
given over $10,000 to help the neediest people in that area.
Apologies
It has come to our attention that a group offering aid from Missouri was treated badly by an individual in
our community. We would like it to be known that the views expressed were from an individual and not
indicative of those of our community, its leaders, or the Chamber of Commerce. Please understand and
contact us ASAP at 601.876.2680 or walthallchamber@bellsouth.net Thank you and we are sorry that
we were not there to intercept. (9/10/05 8pm)
