MEADEVILLE — It appears any tornado and severe storm damage from Dec. 28, 2024 was limited in the Homochitto National Forest. Less then 200 acres are reported as disturbed by the event and most of the disturbance came in clear cuts or bug killed pine stands. 

Shaun Williamson, Forest Ranger for the Homochitto district, said 178 acres were disturbed by severe weather. He thanked Amite and Franklin County supervisors for working quickly to open roads following the storm. There were no issues in the National Forest infrastructure. 

Williamson said they are still looking to see if there was any more weather damage to report. 

“Based off of satellite imagery and getting boots on the ground from what I saw today we got really lucky,” Williamson said. “We had disturbed acres in a timber cutover already where we were planning to plant longleaf pine. We got lucky.”

He added some of the Forest Service crew were walking one stand today looking to estimate how much large timber came down. None of the current timber sale stands were affected by the storms. 

USFS is getting closer to the prescribed fire season on the Homochitto National Forest. Fire lines may need some cleaning up following the storm but fire crews inspect fire lines before prescribed burns anyway. Williamson said they already expected some time constraints on burning as they deal with southern pine beetle damage. 

“So far I haven’t seen anything that is devastating,” Williamson said. “The disturbed acres can be considered as wildlife habitat. It is wonderful for understory migratory birds and quail that use the brushy component. It hasn’t been devastating. There will be diversity in the forest. The storm helped knock down some of the bug-killed trees and I was wondering if it would. Standing dead snags are usually the last thing the wind catches because the needles aren’t there to catch the wind.”