Checking the weather reports early in the morning on March 15, Valerie Douglas didn’t like the looks of the storms headed her way.
If the forecasters were right, a tornado could go right through her community of Tylertown, Mississippi.
That’s just what happened when an EF4 tornado rolled through town later that day just a quarter mile from her home.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reports the tornado destroyed or damaged 182 homes, six farms and killed four in Tylertown and surrounding Walthall County communities.
Across Mississippi, the outbreak of multiple tornadoes—part of a storm system that hit multiple states—damaged 715 homes, 29 businesses and 16 farms and killed seven. On March 20, Regions announced its package of disaster-recovery financial services for Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri.
“I had a bad feeling about this storm,” explained Douglas, who joined the Regions Mortgage servicing team in Hattiesburg in January 2022.
“I left with my son, Hayden, earlier in the day to go stay at my mom’s house in Louisiana in what I thought would be a safer location for us,” she said.
While Douglas did go without power for three days, her home was spared, as were the homes of two Regions teammates who live in Tylertown too and commute to Hattiesburg three days a week.
As soon as she got back, she sought and found a way to help those who had lost everything.
My church was collecting food and delivering meals so that’s what Hayden and I did, and it’s great to be a part of a company like Regions that cares about people and supporting others by volunteering.
Valerie Douglas, Loan Servicing Specialist for Regions
“My church was collecting food and delivering meals so that’s what Hayden and I did, and it’s great to be a part of a company like Regions that cares about people and supporting others by volunteering—and a great lesson for him to learn as a 12-year-old,” she said. “We also donated clothes to folks who needed them.
“It really means a lot when you bring meals and the residents start telling you their experience with the tornadoes,” Douglas said. “Many just embraced us in a hug and started crying. They kept saying, ‘Thank you for what we are doing for them.’ That just makes it all the more meaningful.
“I had to do something to help.”
A drone’s eye view of tornado damage in Tylertown, Mississippi. Source: Mississippi Emergency Management Agency