LAUREL — Five years after Hurricane Katrina swept through Jones County, county officials are still recovering from the devastation it left behind.

Although located about 100 miles inland, some parts of Jones County in Southeast Mississippi received wind gusts of more than 110 miles per hour. Records show that hundreds of Jones County homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged and 12 deaths were reported.

“We’re still praying that we never have a storm like that again,” said Ellisville Mayor Tim Waldrup. “If I would have known before the elections that we would have Hurricane Katrina, I probably wouldn’t have run for office.”

Waldrup took office in July 2005 and Katrina wreaked havoc on Ellisville and other Jones County communities on August 29 of the same year.

“I don’t think anyone really expected it to hit us that hard,” said the Mayor. “It took four or five days to get everyone out of their driveways and clear the streets.

“We had two or three crews doing that and cutting down trees and removing debris from the area. Things were really tough.”

Steve Thrash, superintendent of the Jones County School District agrees.

“I remember that when Katrina came through, as soon as the road cleared, we came to the office to set up and began to work,” said Thrash. “The storm did a lot of damage to our schools and we had to do a lot of planning and fixing.”

Thrash said some schools received minor damage, while there were others that were heavily damaged. The gymnasiums at Moselle and Sharon elementary schools were completely destroyed.

“All of the roofs of the older buildings in the district were damaged,” added Thrash. “Some we were able to replace and others we couldn’t.”

Moselle, Calhoun and Sandersville elementary schools were demolished earlier this year. Thrash said the roofs of the buildings were leaking and the district didn’t have the money to repair them.

“We had constructed new elementary schools and we weren’t using the facilities anyway,” explained Thrash. “We decided it would be in our best interest to tear them down.

“Our school district received millions of dollars worth of damage from Katrina,” added Thrash. “We had quite a bit of damage to our infrastructure.”

Waldrup doesn’t have an estimate of the financial cost to the City of Ellisville and its residents, but said it was substantial. A number of homes and businesses were completely destroyed, while others needed major repair after being damaged by fallen trees.

“We were fortunate when it came to city buildings,” added Waldrup. “Our fire department was the only damaged building. It needed only minor repairs.”

The mayor added that the town was also fortunate when it came down to resources. Ellisville never lost its water supply and was able to share with others.

Jones County Supervisor Barry Saul said it was the kindness and generosity of the citizens of Jones County that touched him the most. He said since many of them couldn’t respond to work, they responded to their neighbors who were in need of help.

“I have a lot of gray hairs on my head now, but I am glad to represent the people I do,” said the District Three supervisor. “They responded in such a beautiful way.

“When we didn’t have enough staff and equipment, they came to our rescue,” added Saul. “The people of Jones County should have been the ones who were honored and recognized.

“They helped everyone. It didn’t matter what walk of life they were from and that just touched my heart.”

Waldrup said he is grateful for the job done by town employees as they responded to the needs of the people.

“A lot of people came to Ellisville and got water from us,” he said. “We also put water in a tank and went out into the county to provide water to those in need.”

In addition to water, Ellisville brought in ice for people to put in their freezers to keep their food from spoiling. The town was able to provide the water and ice for several days.

“We were reimbursed every penny by the federal government,” said Waldrup. “We were very fortunate indeed.”

Government reimbursements came timely for Waldrup and the town of Ellisville. That was not the case for Jones County Administrator Charles Miller and the Board of Supervisors. Miller said it took almost four years for the county to receive its $34,442,000 from the government.

The reimbursement amount included funds for such things as debris cleanup, roadway and bridge damage, emergency measures, buildings and equipment and parks and recreation.

Jones County was one of 49 Mississippi counties declared disaster areas for full federal assistance. Others were Adams, Amite, Attala, Claiborne, Choctaw, Clarke, Copiah, Covington, Franklin, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Kemper, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Walthall, Warren, Wayne, Wilkinson, Winston and Yazoo.

“Through it all, I guess the lesson learned from the county’s standpoint is that you need to be prepared ahead of time on how to dispose of debris,” said Miller. “You also need a contract in place ahead of time, someone designated to do the job.

“I don’t think anyone contemplated the amount of debris we would have from the storm, but we can now.”

Miller said it took from six to eight months to remove all of the debris from the county. It was a mammoth task that required a lot of hard work and long hours.

“As I look back, personally the biggest lesson I learned is that any time a FEMA agent asks for a copy of something, always keep an extra copy. They’re going to come back and ask for a copy again.”

Waldrup noted that although Katrina was a devastating storm, it led to a lot of improvements to Ellisville and other communities. Grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the town was able to purchase generators at city hall and the fire stations

“We will also have shelter, which will serve as a multi-purpose building,” continued Waldrup. “It should be ready next summer.

 “If we have another storm of this magnitude, people in south Jones County will have a place they can come for shelter. It, too, will have a generator and is equipped with a kitchen where people will be able to prepare meals.”

Thrash said Katrina was a learning experience for everyone involved.

“We now know how to appreciate the things that we take so much for granted — food, water, electricity,” he said. “We were out of school for about two and a half weeks and some of the kids still didn’t have water and electricity in their homes when school started.”

Miller added that before Katrina, the watermark was Hurricane Camille.

“People thought it was the worst storm that could ever happen,” said Miller. “Katrina taught us there can be a storm worse than Camille.”

Saul said he is thankful that the county was able to come back strong in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a storm that will be long remembered.

“Katrina hit us hard, but I think we have recovered to be better than we were before,” said Saul. “We now have a vision for the future.

“The county is now better prepared to handle it if another such storm comes our way. We now have a plan set forth for future leaders to look at and see what worked and what didn’t.”