If you believe the impact from the recent severe weather is over just because power has been restored, the traffic lights are working and local restaurants are open, then you would be terribly mistaken.

All you need to do is take a drive down Bowmar Avenue and turn onto Jeanette Street to understand recovery from those horrific storms last week is a long way from being completed.

Piles of debris line the street, while tarps remain draped across the roofs of homes, while some homes remain unlivable.

And this is not an isolated area of damage. Other areas in Vicksburg remain tattered, while some areas in the county remain nearly inaccessible.

And all of this is on top of the ongoing drama of the flooded areas north of Vicksburg and along Eagle Lake.

There are residents in our community still struggling, still suffering from just a few outbursts of Mother Nature’s fury, and the stormy spring season is not quite over.

It is important to remember these neighbors, these friends still need our help, still need our support and still need our prayers.

From temporary housing, to financial support to providing the most basic of human needs, these victims of flooding and tornadoes must see in us a shoulder to cry on and a hand for help.

For those who wish to help in someway, contact the United Way of West Central Mississippi to learn more about some of their partner agencies working to support these victims.

Contact the Salvation Army — itself a United Way partner agency — to volunteer in the recovery in someway.

And urge your friends, your neighbors and your church to get involved in finding a family to help and support.

The recovery from these storms and this flood will not end tomorrow. It will not end next week or next month. But, it will end a lot faster if we all got involved and did our part.