Twenty years ago, when the levies broke more than 600 miles away after Hurricane Katrina, Cleveland County residents felt the impact.
Though the piedmont of North Carolina didn’t see a strong sign of the life-changing storm, Shelby city leaders were moved to help.
Then-Mayor Ted Alexander and former Shelby Star Publisher Skip Foster were among many who led the charge to help their neighbors to the south.
Ted Alexander
The group looked to adopt a community similar to Shelby and settled on Laurel, Mississippi.
Alexander, who is now a senator representing Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties, said visiting the devastated areas after a Category 5 hurricane was both life-changing and life-affirming.
“It was an amazing outpouring of citizenship,” he said of his community’s sense of giving.
Alexander talked to Laurel leaders looking to provide families with clothes, food and other supplies.
There was also an initiative to fill prescriptions and treat minor illnesses.
About 50 women who required wheelchairs or were mentally disabled were housed in a church gym, according to new reports at the time.
“It quickly became a community rallying cry,” said Foster.
Exclusive book: How Katrina changed all of us
Skip Foster runs a communications company and supports the Ormond Beach mayor for saying nice things about the city.
Alexander said he made two trips to the Mississippi city, located about an hour and a half south of Jackson, Mississippi, during the recovery process.
The recent devastation in Western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene brings back those unforgettable memories.
And while those memories may not be pleasant, they do highlight a community of giving.
“It was an amazing outpouring of help,” Alexander said.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: An N.C. city linked with a Mississippi city after Hurricane Katrina