Help arrives for Mississippi communities after Winter Storm Fern

February 18, 2026 By Brian Richesson 0 Comments

Photo of Army National Guard members and others helping with donations in northern Mississippi. — The Army National Guard aided in the wake of the Mississippi ice storm, as the Southeast Propane Alliance (SEPA) coordinated with Payne Oil Co. and Stringer Oil & LP Gas to deliver supplies to hard-hit communities. (Photo courtesy of SEPA)

Winter Storm Fern dumped heavy snow and ice on more than half of the country amid extremely cold temperatures in January. Fern left impacts from the southern Plains to the eastern United States.

To help communities in need, the propane industry came together in northern Mississippi, where ice accumulations of up to 4 in. knocked out power for weeks for some, says Warner Jones of Harper Industries, who lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife, Jessica Jones of Coombs Gas.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” he says, recalling downed trees and power lines, and highways closed due to the ice.

But help came from friends to the north. The Southeast Propane Alliance (SEPA), composed of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, began raising funds and collecting donations to help communities in Mississippi, all while dealing with the challenging weather conditions of their own.

“Retiring from 30 years of active military service, I am not a stranger to seeing the aftermath of disaster and helping those in need, so when the call came to help, we wanted to ensure that those in need received our attention and assistance,” shares John Peña, director of education for the Southeast Propane Alliance Technical Education Center. “I am but one person in our alliance that truly cares about its people and customers. Many of our members answered the call to help, and I’m just glad that we had the opportunity to safely deliver propane equipment, heaters and clothing to families in desperate need.”

Photo of volunteers helping with donated propane cylinders — From left, Keith Lawton of Stringer Oil & LP Gas, Bob Moore of the Southeast Propane Alliance Technical Education Center and Reagan Bonnette of Stringer Oil & LP Gas help with supplies to communities in northern Mississippi. (Photo courtesy of SEPA)

SEPA coordinated with Payne Oil Co., Stringer Oil & LP Gas and others to deliver the donations and supplies to hard-hit communities.

“They never thought twice about it,” Warner Jones says of SEPA, recognizing John Jessup and Peña of the alliance and Reagan Bonnette of Stringer Oil & LP Gas in South Carolina, among others. “It was immediately, ‘What can we do to help?’”

In 2024, the industry rallied to help those in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene flooded the region. Many of those same industry members returned the favor in Mississippi.

Locally, Coombs Gas braved the conditions to supply its customers, who also formed long lines for propane cylinder refills.