PEARL Miss. -

Mid-South Auto Auction’s location provided the ideal spot to help emergency responders assist flood victims of the swollen Mississippi River.

The auction’s general manager Bob Sullivan said, “When we learned that Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) needed a large lot from which to deploy responders, we knew we were a perfect fit.”

Normally, Sullivan indicated state officials use the lots at the Mississippi Fire Academy located nearby. But with a week-long class in session, the lots at the training facility were full.

In a letter of appreciation to the auction, Mike Womack, executive director of MEMA, credited the effectiveness of the start-up operations in part to having a large staging area readily available in close proximity to the state capital in Jackson.

“Disaster response has been a full-time effort for many state employees and volunteers in Mississippi recently as a series of natural disasters have plagued the state. Rising waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries flooded numerous towns and vast areas of farmland as the river reached historic levels,” state officials shared.

“In addition to major flooding, a record number of deadly tornadoes have torn through the Southeast in recent weeks, leaving a path of destruction in several Mississippi towns,” they continued. “In times like these, communities must pull together.”

Sullivan insisted Mid-South AA did just that.

“With 48-acres of asphalt on-site, we were able to provide an area large enough for both MEMA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to stage their operations and still have plenty of room for employee parking and holding consigned vehicles,” Sullivan noted. “It was an ideal way for us to help.”

Mid-South AA  — a member of the American Auto Auction Group —  is located just one mile from Jackson-Evers International Airport. The auction conducts dealer sales every Tuesday at 9 a.m. and government vehicle sales on the first Thursday of each month.

To learn how other auctions coped with flooding and rising water recently, check out this story Auto Remarketing ran earlier this month.