Video: Storm Damage Doesn’t Keep Community Paper From The Presses

PONTOTOC, MISS. (WCBI) – It didn’t take long for locals to find out that staff members of the “Pontotoc Progress” had set up shop in a meeting room at the Chamber of Commerce.

“People find the Progress, no matter what, we could hide and they would still find us,” said David Helms, who is editor of the Pontotoc Progress.  Friday afternoon, as storms moved through the area, he got a phone call from reporter Regina Butler, who was at the paper’s office building on East Jefferson Street.

“The rain started and the wind started blowing, I heard a bang and it came from upstairs, we started taking in a little water on the front, then I heard another bang, I went upstairs and I looked up and rain was coming in between all the slats of the boards upstairs,” Butler said.

Butler and a few others began covering up computers with plastic and moving what they could to their cars. Word spread quickly about the damage to the newspaper’s 87 year old building, and soon the chamber of commerce had temporary tenants.

“The roof on the Progress folded back like a blanket on a bed and they got a lot of water so they needed a location to come to, they are members of ours, they are very strong supporters of Chamber and Main Street so it was a win win situation for all of us,” said Ellen Russell, director of the Pontotoc County Chamber of Commerce.

Staff members worked through the weekend and by Monday morning, the newest edition was coming together ahead of the ever important deadline.

“We’re blessed to have a lot of readers who want to see that paper every week and we’re just happy to be able to produce that, we certainly don’t want to let them down just because we had a little storm damage,” said Regional Manager Lisa Bryant.

“This is something we got to work around, and it’s business as usual, we can’t miss a paper. People rely on us,” Helms said.

Roofers are expected to be on the job as early as Tuesday morning and if the weather cooperates, the Progress staff could be back in their offices by the end of the week.

The water didn’t damage the paper’s archives, dating back to the first issue in 1929.