FOR THOSE THAT DON'T BELIEVE THAT A HURRICANE CAN DO MAJOR DAMAGE INLAND...

This is the first real report I have been able to see regarding my home Jones County in southeast Mississippi, from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

So much destruction occurred, emergency officials calculate losses by what remained unscathed: Less than 1,000 Jones County homes did not see any damage, said an acting spokesman for emergency officials...The 2000 U.S. Census showed 11,659 single-family, owner-occupied homes in Jones County.

The mayor of Laurel, one of the two county seats and largest city, estimates 60 to 65 percent of the homes and businesses in Laurel were destroyed. At least 12 hurricane-related deaths have been confirmed in Jones County.

And this is approximately 120 miles inland. As the hurricane passed the weather gauge at the Laurel Municipal Airport measured winds of up to 120 MPH...before it broke. Many people didn't believe that this storm would cause as much damage and destruction this far ashore. Less than ten percent of homes in the county have electricity, and it could be weeks before it arrives. The largest water utility in the county is down, and other areas are still under a boil water order.

While much of the attention and media coverage, understandably, is focused on the coastal areas and New Orleans, there are still many thousands of people who live well inland whose stories need to be told. Places like New Augusta, Collins, Columbia, Richton, and Moselle. Keep them in your prayers, too.