Officers at the Meridian Public Safety Facility are prepared to deliver future relief efforts connected with damage inflicted by Harvey, now a tropical storm, and area residents are mobilizing with donations of their own.

Doug Stephens, training officer for the city of Meridian at the Meridian Public Safety Facility, said officers are “holding assets” for the time being.

“Right now the state task force of Mississippi has not been called upon for any asset,” he said. “What we are a part of locally is Mississippi Task Force 2, and we have not been called upon.”

But Stephens said that the recovery effort in the coming weeks — and beyond — could require help from outside states.

“We’re going to be prepared for anything,” he said.

Looking back to past disasters, Stephens said it’s the recovery stage that can take time and require outside resources.

“If you think back 12 years to Hurricane Katrina, there were relief efforts for months,” he said. “As water goes down, you’re going to have areas needing to be searched.”

Stephens said, for instance, that “unaccounted for bodies are going to have to be found,” something he called “a major task.”

Stephens explained that the type of damage from this storm differs from some other major storms, such as Katrina. What was once Hurricane Harvey, he said, is characterized by heavy loads of water. 

“This is not Katrina,” he said “This is a different storm. This is more a prolonged flood effect — and a catastrophic one … It was a storm that came in and stayed.”

Stephens noted that individual agencies may be sending people to assist, even if the state has not received official calls for help.

Bill Kitchings, a public outreach forester for the Mississippi Forestry Commission, is in College Station, Texas, serving as supply unit leader for the “Southern Area Type 1 Blue Team.” That’s a team, he said, that includes members of the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other state forestry agencies in 13 states.

Kitchings’ duties with the Mississippi Forestry Commission fall within “Region 2,” which includes Neshoba and Kemper counties.

In a telephone interview late Wednesday afternoon from College Station, Kitchings said he was awaiting supplies to arrive, which his team would sort and prepare for shipment to affected areas. He said he and about 40 other team members — including a few from Mississippi — were positioned in what’s called a Resource Staging Area.

“We’re looking for the first trucks,” Kitchings said, noting that the supplies could arrive at any moment. He said water, ice, tarpaulin, diapers and various other items were slated to arrive and then to be shipped with directions from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The weather in College Station, he said, was mild compared to other parts of Texas.

Members of the Mississippi National Guard, including a group from Meridian’s 186th Air Refueling Wing, are already in southeast Texas, provide support to the Hurricane Harvey response. About 30 soldiers and airmen are serving in the Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, Texas operations areas, according to a press release from the Mississippi National Guard.

Airmen assigned to Meridian’s 186th Air Refueling Wing are assisting with relief planning and coordination efforts. Soldiers from Tupelo’s Company D, 2d Battalion, 151st Aviation Regiment are providing search and rescue support using two LUH 72A Lakota helicopters. In addition, personnel from Flowood’s 172d Airlift Wing are providing communications support and transported Kentucky National Guardsmen to Texas overnight via a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for response support.

Meanwhile, area organizations and community members are also working on contributions to the relief efforts.

The Lauderdale County School District is conducting a drive for items, with a central donation point at West Lauderdale High School.

“Every county school’s involved in it,” said Shane Rodgers, principal of West Lauderdale High School. “We’re volunteering to be the drop point.”

Rodgers said FFA Advisor Danny Johnson, who teaches Agriculture and Natural Resources at the high school, has worked to establish contacts in Texas where items can be sent later. For now, Rodgers said, people can bring items to the high school office, 9916 W Lauderdale Road, Collinsville. Rodgers said he is also reaching out to schools beyond the county — including in Newton and Neshoba counties — to participate. 

“This is not in any way just a West Lauderdale (project),” he said.

Rodgers is offering a list of possible donation items, including hygiene products such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, along with other items such as washcloths, diapers, bandages, baby formula and bottled water. People seeking a complete list, and any other information about the donation process, can call the West Lauderdale High School office at 601-737-2277.

Rodgers also said that cases of bottled water would be collected during Friday night’s home football game, and possibly at subsequent games.

In Clarke County, the Quitman School District is also collecting items, and according to its Facebook page, donations may be dropped off at the Clarke County Career Center by Sept. 5. Other area schools and districts are working on projects, as well.

In Meridian, Theresa Gonzales, an organizer of The First Saturday Art Walk in the Dumont Plaza, is encouraging people to bring items to the walk this Saturday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. this coming Saturday. She said participants can bring items to a local drop-off point, such as the one at West Lauderdale High School.

“I’ve never really done anything like this for a major catastrophe,” she said, “but back in (Grand Junction) Colorado we had a pretty high homeless population.”

Gonzales said she has experience helping people in displaced populations, and she said items such as socks and feminine hygiene products tend to be overlooked.