Mississippi Timber Industry Ravaged by Katrina
Ninety-eight percent of Cecil Chambliss' tree farm in Forrest County, Miss., was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Kathy Lohr, NPR hide caption
Ninety-eight percent of Cecil Chambliss' tree farm in Forrest County, Miss., was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Kathy Lohr, NPRIt's not often that millions of trees fall in a single day. But that's what happened the day Hurricane Katrina struck Mississippi.
Toppled trees crushed many homes, but the trees that tumbled in forests damaged the state's economy as well -- timber is the state's second-largest agricultural product. And unlike other crops, trees take decades to grow back.