NATCHEZ — While Adams County may have escaped the record-breaking water levels of the Mississippi River without much significant damage, some areas in Wilkinson County weren’t so lucky.

Parts of the county to the south, including a large area near Fort Adams, flooded when the high waters came, leaving many without houses, food and peace of mind.

The water is continuing to creep back down toward flood stage, and as the water descends, affected Wilkinson County residents are beginning to clean up what they can and get back to normal.

With the road to recovery just beginning, the Red Cross is stepping in to help by serving lunch and dinner and offering cleaning supplies to Wilkinson County residents who need it.

Red Cross government liaison Jayne Davis said the Red Cross is now moving into the direct service approach, meaning they are working to help Wilkinson County residents who are cleaning up and trying to move back into their houses.

“We are preparing lunch and dinner in Adams County and then taking the food to (Wilkinson) and passing it out,” she said.

Davis said the Red Cross is preparing the food for the individuals so they don’t have to drive around looking for something to eat during their clean-up efforts.

“It is easy for us to be there to feed them,” she said. “This way they don’t have to go miles to find a bite of nutrition.”

Davis said the Red Cross chose Natchez as the place to prepare the food because it was the closest area available to Wilkinson.

The food is being prepared at First Baptist Church of Natchez, and senior pastor the Rev. Doug Broome said he was glad to see his church as the staging area for the free meals.

“We are just glad to be able to help,” he said. “We want to help anybody we can in any way we can.”

Broome said the meals have been prepared at the church since Monday, and that they are scheduled to continue to prepare meals until at least next Monday.

“The Red Cross and FEMA are going to have to determine whether or not they need to use us to prepare food after that,” he said.

Broome said 200 to 600 meals are prepared and delivered twice a day, depending on the amount of people who are in need of food.

“We have even had a few people in (Adams) County come up and eat meals,” he said.

Broome said things have been going well at the church, and that he hopes the food will continue to help make a troubling time easier to manage.

“This is all about the people,” he said.

Davis said clean-up supplies, including masks, gloves and bleach, were also being passed out to the residents.

Davis said only people who have been approved to receive the clean-up supplies get them.

“We are also handing out items and information on how to be prepared for any other future disasters,” she said. “This is a great opportunity to give them tools to start building a preparedness kit.”

Davis said the Red Cross will continue to provide all the help it can, and that so far things have gone very well.