Mississippi
For shrinking Mississippi River towns, frequent floods worsen fortunes
Homes outside the protected area got swamped, though. Much of the flooding was from Bear Creek as the Mississippi backed up into it.
Over the years, silt from the river has worked its way into the creek, clogging storm drains and worsening flash flooding, Mayor Barry Louderman said.
Louderman estimated at least a half-dozen companies that employed a combined 300 to 400 people “are just gone, were never replaced,” due to persistent flooding. First Street’s models show Hannibal would have likely grown over the last two decades if not for flooding.
Steve Dungan has lived on Ely Street near Bear Creek all of his 54 years. As a child, he fished from the porch when the creek rose.
One summer night in 1993, Dungan was at a hospital in nearby Quincy, Illinois, where his wife was about to give birth to their daughter. He got a call that the water was coming up fast, and relatives and friends were scurrying to salvage what they could from his home by boat.
“We lost the waterbed, stove, refrigerator — stuff they couldn’t pack out,” he said.
With family anchoring him to the area, he chose to stay.
Ray Allen, another longtime Ely Street resident who also operated an auto repair and welding shop there, did not. He recalled being awakened by a noise during that 1993 flooding.
“Jumped up out of bed and was standing in water knee-deep beside the bed,” Allen, now 80, recalled. “That’s a rude awakening, I’ll tell you that.”
The government bought out nearly all of the homes on Ely Street and in many other neighborhoods vulnerable to Bear Creek. People scattered. Some, like Allen and his wife of 63 years, Rachel, left town, though they moved back about 12 years ago and now live high on a hill.
He misses his old friends and neighbors on Ely Street.
“All of the people that were good friends down there kind of got busted apart,” he said.
West Alton is a two-hour drive downriver from Hannibal. In 1993, Sugar Vanburen watched as most of her mobile home floated down the river. Only what was bolted down remained — the floor, a toilet and furnace.
Her sister left, but not Sugar. It’s where she grew up. She likes the quiet community. Her grandchildren go to a good school. Residents learn how to empty mud from the basement and get neighbors to help clean up.
After the 1993 flood, the Federal Emergency Management Agency offered buyouts to some facing severe flood risk. Recently, letters for a new round of voluntary buyouts went out.
Sugar threw hers away. But Robert Myers, St. Charles County’s planning and zoning division director, said the goal is to buy out as many as 100 homes across the county.
Mayor Richter recalls the West Alton of decades ago: three churches, an ice cream shop, four taverns where people hung out.
“Now we don’t have any churches. We have one tavern that’s open and it just got reopened not too long ago,” he said. “A lot of that community stuff is gone.”
Tom Silk lives next to a vacant lot that was once home to the church he attended and where he married.
Silk likes the town. It’s rural, peaceful. But it takes work to stay. His front door still bears the water stain right at the handle marking the 2019 flood — second-highest on record.
That year, he packed up a U-Haul and left for about two months. It took a year and a half to repair his house — he did the work after finishing shifts loading trucks at a FedEx warehouse — but he wanted to stay.
“It’s quiet, it is the country life, but … you are still by the city if you need to do anything or go anywhere,” he said.
Richter said flooding is so frequent that he probably wouldn’t live in town if he didn’t grow up locally, farm and have strong community connections. The town has organized July 4 celebrations and a flea market family fun day in the fall. People come back. But there’s a sense of loss.
Vanburen misses neighbors who moved away.
“Everybody’s gone,” she said. “This is a ghost town.”
Cairo, Illinois, is surrounded by a levee at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It’s endured a lot.
First rising as a hub for steamboats in the 19th century, Cairo peaked around 1920 with about 15,000 people, including a sizeable Black population. It had attractive retail shops, several rail lines and a healthy manufacturing sector. It was also strictly segregated, and protests in the 1960s met violence that spiraled for years. The city has hemorrhaged people during a downward economic trend that’s never stopped, according to local historian Klinkenberg.
Its population today is about 10% of peak. Retail and manufacturing are gone. For a long time, it didn’t have a grocery store. Most of the place is abandoned, with brick buildings cracked by growing trees.
Jackson State football coach TC Taylor addresses fans at signing day event
Jackson State football coach T.C. Taylor addresses fans at JSU’s recruit reveal event on Feb. 4.
Mississippi leaders and educators are remembering Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony as a trailblazing journalist, educator and public servant following news of her death Thursday, March 5.
Hayes-Anthony, a longtime professor and chair of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Jackson State University and former acting president of the university, spent decades mentoring students and shaping communications education throughout Mississippi.
Jackson State University officials announced her passing in a statement Thursday morning. She was 72. A cause of death was not provided.
Hayes-Anthony served as interim president for eight months in 2023, between former President Thomas Hudson and Marcus Thompson. She became the first Black woman to work as an anchor, producer and reporter at WJTV in Jackson and later spent 17 years as chair of the communications department at Belhaven University. Hayes-Anthony also served as assistant superintendent of communications for Jackson Public Schools and served as the first Black woman and journalism educator to become president of the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn praised Hayes-Anthony in a statement as a “proud daughter of Jackson and a distinguished graduate of Jackson State University who returned home to pour her knowledge back into this community.” Horhn also extended condolences to Hayes-Anthony’s husband, family, colleagues and former students.
“Our city mourns the loss of a trailblazer whose life’s work helped shape generations of communicators, educators, and leaders,” Horhn said in a statement. “As a pioneering journalist and the first African American woman to serve as anchor, producer, and reporter at WJTV-12, she broke barriers in Mississippi media and opened doors for countless Black journalists. Her leadership at Jackson State, from the classroom to the president’s office, reflected her commitment to excellence. Jackson is better because she chose to live, work, and lead here. We honor her legacy, celebrate her remarkable life, and pray for comfort and strength for all who are grieving this tremendous loss.”
Ward 4 Councilman and Jackson City Council President Brian Grizzell, a long time educator and alumnus of JSU, said he remembered Hayes-Anthony from several points in her life and career.
“I remember Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony from several stages of her remarkable journey,” Grizzell said. “I first knew her as a student in Jackson Public Schools, later as a student at Jackson State University, and we reconnected years later during her time serving as acting president of Jackson State University.”
Grizzell called Hayes-Anthony a pioneer in education whose work helped shape the lives of many students across the community.
Longtime Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson, also a JSU alum, honored Hayes-Anthony as a “a trailblazer in every sense of the word.”
See his post on Facebook below:
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves also offered condolences Thursday via X, formerly known as Twitter.
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker also shared the following statement on Hayes-Anthony passing:
“Mississippi has lost a leader and pioneer, my friend Dr. Elayne Anthony. Jackson State benefited from her steady hand during a time of transition. She was revered by its students. The Mississippi Association of Broadcasters recognized her leadership by electing her chair. Elayne’s legacy of kindness, servant-leadership, and community service will impact generations to come.”
Investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell reflected on Hayes-Anthony’s impact on journalism in Mississippi.
“What a loss. Dr. Anthony was truly a champion for journalism. Her work produced so many talented journalists we have today in Mississippi and beyond,” Mitchell said.
State Rep. Zakiya Summers and Sen. David Blount, both of whom represent parts of Jackson in the Mississippi Legislature, also paid tribute to Hayes-Anthony.
Officials with the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Mississippi State Board of Health also shared condolences, noting Hayes-Anthony served on the Board of Health for nearly two decades.
“I personally grieve the loss of a very important Mississippian who cared deeply about education at all levels, public health, and very importantly the need for the health of our population to improve,” said Dan Edney, state health officer and executive director of the Mississippi State Department of Health. “She was a strong supporter of MSDH and for my work as State Health Officer and was one of our greatest cheerleaders. Her passing is a loss to public health and higher education leadership, but her service has helped to make our state a better place.”
Lucius Lampton, chairman of the Board of Health, said Hayes-Anthony’s service on the board began in 2007.
“Dr. Elayne Anthony’s long service on the Board of Health, which began in 2007, was exceptional and benefited the public’s health in countless ways. She led always with intellect, creativity and integrity. The Board of Health and our agency will so miss her gracious presence. I also will miss her dear friendship.”
Charlie Drape is the Jackson beat reporter. You can contact him at cdrape@gannett.com.
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) — Gas prices along the Mississippi Gulf Coast have jumped to nearly $3 a gallon, up from $2.41 just two days ago, according to AAA.
AAA said the increase is driven by two factors: the U.S.-Iran conflict, which has shut down a key Middle East oil route and prompted attacks on refineries, and a seasonal fuel blend switch that adds up to 15 cents a gallon on its own.
Uber Eats driver James Adams said he noticed the increase immediately.
“It actually jumped like 50 to 60 cents in one day,” Adams said.
Adams said the higher cost to fill his tank cuts directly into his delivery earnings.
“We’re working basically for pennies on the dollar already — and once you factor that in with traffic and the mileage you have to go — the gas is outrageous,” Adams said.
DoorDash driver Daniel Yelle said the spike will strain his weekly budget.
“I fill up about twice a week going to and from work and DoorDash — and that’s going to hurt my budget,” Yelle said.
FedEx driver Cecil Banks said there is little that workers can do about the rise in prices.
“As long as there is wars — the price of gas is going to go up for everybody — so it’s just an unfortunate situation,” Banks said.
Banks noted that even though Mississippi’s prices remain below the national average, not driving is not an option for working families.
“What can you do? A lot of people have families — they have to go get their kids — they have to go back and forth to work,” Banks said.
Yelle echoed that sentiment.
“They don’t pay us enough for the higher gas prices,” Yelle said.
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Mississippi
It’s 2,350 miles long, spans 31 US states and is home to a 100kg animal with a tongue that looks like a worm | Discover Wildlife
The Mississippi River flows for around 2,350 miles through the heart of the US. It drains an area of 1.2 million square miles – that’s roughly 40% of the country – and at certain points is 11 miles wide. It is North America’s second longest river, behind the Missouri River.
Rising from Lake Itasca in Minnesota, the Mississippi winds southwards through a range of environments, draining water from 31 US states before reaching its delta at the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana.
The sheer size of the river and the diversity of habitats it passes through make it a refuge for a huge range of animal species, including more than 260 fish, 326 birds, 50 mammals and at least 145 amphibians and reptiles, according to the National Park Service.
There are many weird and wonderful animals living within the Mississippi’s vast waters, but surely one of the strangest is the alligator snapping turtle.
This prehistoric-looking reptile is massive. It can weigh up to 100kg and males can grow well over half a metre long, making it the largest freshwater turtle in North America.
And as if its size wasn’t enough, the alligator snapper has a host of other characteristics that make it one of the Mississippi’s most striking creatures, including a dark, spiky shell (known as carapace), a brick-like head and a sharp, hooked beak. With such a formidable appearance, it’s easy to see how the turtle got its ‘alligator’ name.
But perhaps the turtle’s most curious feature is a worm-like appendage found on its tongue, which it uses as a lure to catch prey, such as fish, amphibians and invertebrates. Alligator snappers are also quite happy scavenging for food.
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