JACKSON — Mississippi remains mostly rural. Rural areas continue to struggle. New issues continue to arise. Still the state appears to have no comprehensive plan to aid rural areas.
You can add a growing shortage of volunteer firefighters to the known list of rural issues. Last week the Daily Journal in Tupelo documented problems facing Lee County.
“There are several departments throughout the county that are just not getting the response because they don’t have enough volunteers,” District 1 Supervisor Phil Morgan told the Journal.
“My concern is the fact that we’re getting to the numbers where it’s not safe anymore for the firefighters,” Marc Flanagan, Lee County’s fire coordinator said. “If there’s a chance of a rescue, someone has got to go in, and you can’t make entry with two people on scene.”
Not long ago, WCBI in Columbus reported a major shortage of volunteer firefighters in rural Lowndes County.
The National Fire Protection Association has raised concerns about the declining number of firefighters. Declining fire response capabilities carry a double whammy. In addition to fire disasters, home insurance rates can surge. As reported by the Journal, “fire ratings influence insurance rates, and fire ratings are based on many factors, including the number of firefighters that are locally available, the number and type of trucks, whether fire hydrants are available and so on.”
Remember the other items already on the list?
Population changes. Rural areas are losing population, and the remaining population is aging. Just in the 17 counties served by the Create Foundation in northeast Mississippi, “12 of our 17 counties are losing population,” reported Lewis Whitfield, senior vice president of the foundation.
Brain drain. State Auditor Shad White calls that one of the state’s most challenging issues.
Nursing shortages. Hospitals have reported increasing vacancy rates and difficulty recruiting experienced nurses. Some rural nursing homes, clinics and hospitals have reported turnover rates from 36% to 50%.
Teacher shortages. This year’s pay raises may help, but the state Department of Education reported nearly one of every three school districts in Mississippi is designated a critical teacher shortage area. The solution will take more than this pay increase.
Rural infrastructure. Crumbling roads and bridges plus antique water and sewage facilities may get some relief from recent federal infrastructure grants, but many problems will remain.
Health care. Too many uninsured persons, lack of physicians, and struggling hospitals contribute to high infant mortality, obesity and other mortality rates. Also the national Center for Disease Control reported people in rural areas were four times more likely to die from drug overdoses now than a decade ago. And the age-adjusted suicide rate for the most rural counties was 1.8 times the rate for urban counties.
Economic distress. Rural areas are major contributors to Mississippi’s bad rankings on poverty, wage rates, workforce participation rates, educational achievement and more.
Lack of a coordinated, long-term plan to address these issues portends a bleak future for more rural Mississippians.
Rescue the weak and needy. — Psalm 82:4
- Bill Crawford is a Republican former state lawmaker from Jackson.
