June 25, 2025 • 26 mins
MEMA Director of External Affairs Scott Simmons joined The Extra Mile Podcast to talk about his new role, promote hurricane preparedness, highlight memorable stories from his news days, and more.
- Drive safely this summer! – 00:00
- Show intro / introducing MEMA Director of External Affairs Scott Simmons – 00:30
- Moving from WAPT to MEMA – 01:41
- Scott's career in journalism – 03:30
- MEMA & Public Service – 06:43
- 20 Years since Hurricane Katrina – 08:39
- Hurricane Preparedness – 12:18
- What's going on at MEMA – 16:57
- Scott's craziest stories from his career – 17:52
- Favorite place(s) to eat – 23:04
- Favorite music/concert(s) – 24:10
- Show Outro – 26:02
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Barrett Wilson (00:00):
Summertime is the season for road trips.
Before heading out on the openroad, MDOT recommends taking
some time for routine vehiclemaintenance. Check your tires
for proper wear and pressure.Make sure your battery is in tip
top shape. Keep an emergency kitin your vehicle's trunk, and
don't forget to check your car'sair conditioning because this
Mississippi heat is no joke.
Download the MDOT traffic mobileapp for real time updates on
(00:23):
traffic conditions across thestate, and follow
@MississippiDOT on Facebook, X,and Instagram.
Drew Hall (00:38):
MDOT presents the Extra Mile Podcast.
Paul Katool (00:49):
Welcome in to another edition of the Extra
Mile podcast presented by theMississippi Department of
Transportation. I'm Paul Katool,and as always, joined by my
cohost, Will Craft. Today, we'vegot a great guest, someone you
might recognize from broadcastjournalism where he worked at
WAPT since 2003, but he hasjoined the dark side of the
(01:11):
force, as we say, in ourindustry and has gone over to
MEMA is Mr. Scott Simmons.
And you are now the Director ofExternal Affairs over there. So,
yeah, really a dark force.
Scott Simmons (01:23):
I, you know, I just I look at it as a as a
wonderful opportunity.
Paul Katool (01:26):
Oh, yeah.
Scott Simmons (01:27):
It was wild. But I yeah. The dark side would be
the way to use it if you wannasay it that way.
But yeah. No. It's it was justit was just a great opportunity.
You know? And it really afterbeing a journalist for so long,
it was just it was that righttime to make that move.
Paul Katool (01:40):
No doubt. Yeah. So, kinda talk to us about this new
role. Obviously, there are somesimilarities between journalism
and communications. But, yeah,talk to us about what you're
doing in this new role here.
Scott Simmons (01:52):
Well, it was it was it was unique. It was. When
Director Steve McCraneyapproached me, I thought about
it. And I said, I've been ajournalist over thirty years,
and I was always the guy in thestorm.
I was always the guy who stoodin front of the hurricane when
it comes towards the beach, theguy who covered the tornado, did
the recovery stories, and it wasjust natural flow. And I started
thinking about it. If I wantedto do something different, now
(02:13):
would be the time to do it. Andso he and I spoke for a while,
and I thought, you know what? Ilike what they're doing over
there.
And so that's how the transitionhappened. And for me, storm
response, emergency response wassecond nature. We were speaking
earlier before we started thebroadcast about all the
hurricanes and Katrina coverageand things that were just, you
know, pack up your back, Scott.You're going south. So for me, a
(02:36):
lot of this was easy tounderstand, easy to relate to,
having covered not only thestorms that happened, the
preparedness aspects, but therecovery, which is so detailed
and something that I've learnedso much more about in my tenure
now as Director of ExternalAffairs is, good lord, there's
so many layers in helpingMississippians recover working
with FEMA and and getting thatfunding in and getting it to the
(02:58):
people's hands who need it inthe recovery.
It's been a learning experience.
Will Craft (03:02):
Awesome. Can only imagine drinking from the fire
hose, phrase we've you've usedquite frequently, on the show
for. How long now? So a couplemonths. Right?
Scott Simmons (03:11):
Yeah. Actually, at one point, I was working for
MEMA, and anchoring the newscaststill on the weekends.
Will Craft (03:18):
Double dipping there.
Scott Simmons (03:19):
Literally, I would start April 7 in Mima, but
my last newscast on WAPT wasEaster Sunday. And, literally, I
said, I'm putting the laptopdown, guys. I've gotta start,
you know, the other thing. But Iwas hailing double duty, you
know, because I had such a longhistory with Hearst, which owns
WAPT. It started with them whenI was just a young cub reporter.
Will Craft (03:38):
Yeah. We were just talking about that. Didn't
realize it went that far back.
Scott Simmons (03:40):
Yeah. I started in New Orleans at WDSU in 1993.
And, again, there, I coveredover a dozen hurricanes. And,
literally I that we had a rulethat I would cover hurricanes
from the Texas line all the wayto, say, Destin. Past Destin, we
would typically not go down.
But, you know, I would be theguy standing on the beach, and,
(04:01):
no, I would not do the JimCantore. Oh my god. I can't
stand up. But I would be the guyon the beach. And in fact, I
remember one time I was coveringa hurricane.
I think it was around OrangeBeach, Perdido Key, and I get a
call from the station. Said,Scott, you know, where are you?
You in front of a building? AndI'm like, no. What do you mean?
I said, well, the guy from theCBS affiliate says you can't
stand up, and he says he's inPerdido too. And I looked down
(04:22):
the beach, and he's about 50yards doing the, oh my god. I
can't stand up. Like, I'm notgonna do that. That guy went on
to CNN.
I didn't. So, you know, it's allhow you look at it, but, it was
it was always the thing that Ialways covering the storms and
disasters wherever it washappening, which was always the
beauty of our business is thatyou never know from day to day
what you're gonna be covering.
Will Craft (04:41):
Sure.
Scott Simmons (04:42):
The diversity was always the draw in journalism to
me is that, know, one day I'llbe at the legislature. Next day,
I'll be covering a crime.
Next day, I'll be talking aboutpublic policy for education.
Even MDOT, I did a lot ofstories with MDOT.
Paul Katool (04:55):
For sure.
Scott Simmons (04:56):
Surely, in the latter days before I left WAPT,
and my argument was always thatyou talk about stories that are
tangible that matters, roads,bridges, everybody drives over
them, people care. And I wouldmake that case for a lot of
stories when we talk aboutbridge projects or road
projects. And, certainly, wetalked about increasing funding
for MDOT. That was the bread andbutter that I argued people can
relate to. You may not careabout a school board fight in
(05:20):
Madison County, but you're gonnacare about the I-20 road
improvements or the m a theHighway 80 Bridge replacement
there between Rankin and HindsCounty.
And so I always like those kindof moving around type of aspects
of the job.
Paul Katool (05:32):
Definitely. And so you've been at MEMA for a few,
couple months now. Is thereanything that you miss about the
old job? Are you just reallyhappy to come to another -
Scott Simmons (05:42):
I've enjoyed it. I mean, I've missed certainly
being a journalist. I, I didn't,I wasn't a guy who hated my
profession. I actually lovebeing a journalist.
Will Craft (05:48):
Sure. Sure.
Scott Simmons (05:49):
You know? And so when I left, it wasn't because I
didn't like my colleagues or thework I did. I really enjoyed it.
I might miss a little bit of theadrenaline
Paul Katool (05:57):
Right.
Scott Simmons (05:57):
Of you're doing something one day, and you
literally drop your bag becauseyou're going to something that
you didn't see coming. And so itwould force those neurons to
fire. You know? And you'realways thinking about how can I
communicate? How can I relatethe story?
And how can I make it relatableto viewers? That was a four hour
deadline. Typically, every day,you do an editorial meeting at
09:30. I was out the door before10AM because I wanted to get
(06:19):
going. And so, you wouldn'ttypically have the stories
written by 2, 03:00, but thenyou'd be live at 5 and 6
And by that time, when youfinish writing the story to when
you're actually on air, therewould always be another caveat,
another nugget that would comein that you would have to adapt.
So, the thing that I do missabout that was that that
suddenness, that that excitementand adrenaline and, and madness,
(06:39):
licensed madness, we called it
Will Craft (06:41):
Yeah.
Scott Simmons (06:41):
Of the business. What I've enjoyed about MEMA so
much is the public service armof it.
Will Craft (06:46):
Sure.
Scott Simmons (06:47):
And when you sit at a table with a bunch of
people who you realize theyreally care about what they're
doing, and they're reallyknuckles down, get the job done
mentality over there at MEMA.It's been really exhilarating
because we talk about how can weserve Mississippians. They talk
about how can we get services tothem and get it done. And it's
not just a cliche. It's not justa line.
(07:08):
Even behind the closed doors,that's really conversations that
take place. We were havingconversations this morning
talking about our our responsefrom the March 14-15 storms and
how we are still seeing afteralmost three weeks of these
disaster recovery centers beingopened, we still have five
opened. We're still seeing, youknow, as much as a 100 people
coming in each day seekingassistance from those storms
(07:30):
because we had to wait so longfor the presidential declaration
to come in. Sixty-eight days wasthe longest we had had to wait
for such a declaration. But oncewe did get moving and we once we
got the green light, we were onthe ground, and we're setting up
those disaster recovery centers,and we're still seeing people
three weeks into the game stilllining up, seeking for help of
(07:52):
of things that they tried to doon their own, and now are
getting some assistance inrecouping some of that money.
Will Craft (07:57):
Good. Yeah. I think we we saw the press release, I
think, maybe last week.
Paul Katool (08:01):
Yeah.
Will Craft (08:01):
Kinda detailing some of that.
Scott Simmons (08:03):
We're we're we're move from the press side, we're
definitely moving a lot ofmaterial because we wanna tell
people how much is being done,with our federal and local
partners. We always talk aboutfederally-funded, state-managed,
locally-implemented.
Will Craft (08:14):
Absolutely.
Scott Simmons (08:15):
Which is the key to what we do. And in this right
now, when we have our MEMA teamworking hand in hand with FEMA
at these disaster recoverysites, it's all about geared
towards that person, helpingthat survivor get back on their
feet and get their lives backtogether.
Will Craft (08:30):
No doubt about it. And you guys do an excellent job
at all that. We every year, we,we try to make this an annual
podcast and visit with the folksout at MEMA. Such a critical
role out there, and we sort oftouched on it just briefly
already. But as you mentioned,hurricane season is here. We're
getting into it.
Scott Simmons (08:44):
It is. And we were talking about Hurricane
Katrina, which for me was,obviously a very big occasion in
my life, a big milestone in mycareer. I had been at, the NBC
in New Orleans for almost elevenyears. When they first
approached me, Hearst, aboutmoving to Jackson to be the main
anchor, my first reaction was,wait a minute. What?
(09:04):
Then I started thinking aboutit, where I wanted to raise a
family. I grew up in SouthJackson. A lot of people think
I'm from Louisiana because I wasthere there so long, but I'm
actually from South Jackson. AndI started thinking about where I
wanted to raise my children, andit was here. That was the key
reason I moved here.
Sold the house in Lakeview, NewOrleans a year and three months
before Katrina hit.
Will Craft (09:23):
Crazy.
Scott Simmons (09:24):
The house got 10 feet of water. When the storm
happened, all my friends WDSU,again, the company, Hearst owns
WDSU and WAPT, they evacuated toour studios. We had to put them
in hotels as in Walthall when wesaw open as a hotel.
Paul Katool (09:39):
Oh, wow.
Scott Simmons (09:39):
I remember some of them saying, know, "Scott,
I'm a come stay at your house."And I'm like, "I have no
electricity. You have a hotshower and lights. I'm sleeping
on my back patio."
But during that era, it was soeye opening because we went on
the air for six and a half daysstraight. No commercials,
formatting, no newscastscripting. It was literally the
old school rip and read. Theywould rip wire copy from it,
(10:02):
hand it to me. They would say,"Scott, we've got a aerial
coming in from CNN of the firstshots of New Orleans," and
I'd jump on the desk with NormanRobinson, my colleague from WDSU
at the time.
And we started looking at thoseaerials, and I could say that's
West End Boulevard. That'sCatina Drive right there.
That's, the Central BusinessDistrict as we watched those
first images come in. And wewould start at 10:00 in the
(10:25):
morning, say, I'll come in, andI would anchor for a couple
hours at the time, then myco-anchor, Joyce Brewer, would
jump on the set. I'd take acouple hours, get back on the
set, and I'd go till ten oreleven at night.
Our colleagues from they jump onthe anchor desk and take over.
We were just wall to wall untilour morning crew would get on.
And so we did that for about sixand a half days before we
started scripting newscasts,having rundowns. And, you know,
(10:47):
we were seeing those firstimages of the Superdome. You
know, none of that was scripted.
Will Craft (10:52):
Yeah.
Scott Simmons (10:52):
We were literally seeing it as it was unfolding
and those heart wrenchingimages. And as we look back now
twenty years, it's hard tobelieve how far we've come. We
are still working Katrinaresolution projects. There's
still one left in Biloxi, Ibelieve it's a water project,
that's still providing Katrinadisaster funding to that
(11:12):
municipality as they doinfrastructure repair from that
grant funding money. Twentyyears has been a long time
coming, and we always ask peopleas we look now towards the
hurricane season, don't take itfor granted.
Will Craft (11:24):
Amen.
Scott Simmons (11:24):
Because they they when when the National Hurricane
Center predicts it's gonna be anactive season or it's gonna be a
less than active season, I'djust tune it out because it only
takes one storm. You say it'sgonna be a less than active
season, but you get onehurricane that hits your shore,
and it could wreck your worldforever.
Will Craft (11:43):
Absolutely.
Scott Simmons (11:43):
Which brings us back to Katrina. Remember, that
split the state. It wentstraight up the state. If you
think only hurricanes matter tothose on the coast and I don't
know if you guys remember. Youguys were younger.
I'm sure. Mhmm. But, you know,here in Jackson, there's no
power.
Will Craft (11:56):
Right.
Scott Simmons (11:57):
Right. No gasoline. And it was way for
much of the center or part ofthe state, it laid a wasteland
in its path. And and we spent somuch time covering in the wake
of the storms. You know, the gozone money, the federal money
that was available to helppeople recover because there was
so much damage from the coast tothe Central North parts of the
state.
We turn our eyes now towardsthis hurricane season, and we
(12:19):
tell people to be prepared andstart thinking about what you
can do. We like to say the firstthree days are on you. The first
seventy-two are on you. Thinkabout it. Do you have
seventy-two hours worth ofwater?
Will Craft (12:30):
Right. Yeah.
Scott Simmons (12:31):
If you're dealt with a Jackson water crisis, you
Will Craft (12:33):
Sure.
Scott Simmons (12:33):
You don't appreciate water until you don't
have it. Have you got seventytwo hours of water? Have you got
canned goods that could get youthrough in a pinch?
What would you do if you lostpower for a week? Think about
your propane grill.
Will Craft (12:46):
Yeah.
Scott Simmons (12:46):
Think about your charcoal, thing like that. You
could make it work if you have aplan, but if you don't, then
you're gonna have a hard time.
Will Craft (12:53):
That's right. I I will not say that I am the best
prepper at all in in, you know,any stretch of the imagination,
but one of my favorite quotes ofall time was the old Abe
Lincoln, failing to prepare ispreparing to fail. You know?
That's one of those situationswhen the worst of the worst
scenario is is at your door.
You better have some type ofplan in place.
Scott Simmons (13:10):
And we ask people to start only thinking about
food and water, but where wouldyou go? Where would your loved
ones you got friends on thecoast? Those people that have
moved down to the coast in thetwenty years since may not have
a firm grasp of what a hurricanecan do. They may have some
naive,
Will Craft (13:27):
That's a good point.
Scott Simmons (13:27):
for lack of a better description, idea of what
it's like to be on the coast.
Reach out to them. Make surethey know they have a place to
go. Because remember, when wehave storm evacuations, you have
what? Contraflow.
Will Craft (13:38):
That's right.
Paul Katool (13:38):
Right.
Scott Simmons (13:38):
Which MDOT knows all about.
Paul Katool (13:40):
Definitely.
Scott Simmons (13:40):
And and that is such an important counterflow
plan. You're gonna have allthese people coming up.
Hattiesburg is gonna become sucha huge
Will Craft (13:46):
Oh, yeah.
Scott Simmons (13:47):
mecca because those people, a lot times, think
that they can evacuate to justan hour off the coast.
Well, they'll need to comefurther north. So when you think
about yourhurricane preparedness plans,
think about what are yourfriends and family gonna do. Do
they know where they can go? Doyou know where you would go if
your home did get hit by atornado that could pop out of a
hurricane, drop on your home?Where would you go?
Where would your loved ones meetif your home got demolished and
(14:10):
you had to have a meeting place?Have that street corner lined
up, that uncle's house where youknow you can meet, and that
contact list. It's so important.
Will Craft (14:17):
You know, I could actually, you say that. I
haven't thought about that in along time, but I, I think what
was it? The Muster Stationthings you did in high school,
you know, if if the scenario,you knew where to go.
Paul Katool (14:25):
Yeah.
Will Craft (14:25):
It was just at least that far. Right?
Scott Simmons (14:27):
And it's important that you start
thinking about it now because,again, we're just starting the
hurricane season. Historically,we've always seen that the
hurricanes get busier towardslate July, August, September.
But, really, that July to Augustwindow is when we see the most
activity in our area when theGulf is waters are warmer. As
you remember, we start watchingthese these systems move. It's
(14:48):
when they hit that tip ofFlorida and hit the warm waters
of The Gulf, that's when theybuild their strength.
That's when they become soimpactful. And so start thinking
about that now, getting yourplan together, and thinking
about what your loved ones willdo in the event that something
happens your way.
Paul Katool (15:03):
Absolutely. No doubt. And That's a lot of
really good information. Scott,do you have I know you guys do
at MEMA, like a hub forresources, a website we can go
to, or social media?
Scott Simmons (15:14):
We have multiple platforms, which we are proud
of. Certainly, our award winningMEMA app, which has everything
right there at the tip of yourfingers. It's the MEMA app, the
msema,uh,org.org, our website,which has just an abundance of
information and links to peoplelike like mdot. You know, we
have all these connections, andwe're so proud of what we're
trying to do through our MEMAapp and our MEMA website and our
(15:37):
social media platforms as youand I know on Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn,Nextdoor. We're Twitter, our x
now, we call it.
We're hitting all of theseplatforms at the same time
because we know that so manypeople get their information so
many different ways. That'sright. And so, yeah, we're
hitting them all there.
Paul Katool (15:54):
Absolutely. Yeah. So if you're in those lower six
coastal counties especially,please go check out resources
that MEMA has. They're they'regreat resources. And we we
really work hand in hand withMEMA and have our own resources
as well, so wanted to give thata shout out real quick.
For evacuation routes, ourhurricane evacuation guide,
visit gom..com/hurricanes. Youdownload that for free. There's
(16:19):
also a hurricane, preparednesschecklist there. So please,
between MEMA and MDOT, we've gotyou covered. But like Scott was
saying, please do it now.
Scott Simmons (16:27):
And get familiar with it. Your your websites,
your MDOT platforms have accessto those traffic cameras that
you can access on a map. Itreally is invaluable when you're
trying to you got a familycoming up safe from Ocean
Springs. What does I I 10 looklike or 55? Well, you can go
click on m dot camera, pull upthat shot, get a feel for what
they're dealing with, and youcan be a valuable resource for
(16:47):
that loved one who's evacuatingnorth.
Hey. This is what 49 looks likeright now because you can look
at that camera.
Paul Katool (16:53):
Exactly. Hey. We've got you covered for sure. Yeah.
Well, there's lots lots aboutlots of good information on
hurricanes just now.
Anything else kind of that'sgoing on at MEMA right now that
you'd like to shout out?
Scott Simmons (17:03):
Right now, we're just we're really hyper focused
on the disaster recovery fromthe March storms. And we have
again, we're seeing as many as a100 people come in. I think it
was yesterday in Jeff DavisCounty, to one of our disaster
recovery centers. We're reachingout to people because there are
resources that are available andassistance that's available for
those who may have gotten a hit,finally gave up, waiting, and
(17:25):
just tried to move on. There'sopportunities for them, and we
have links to all that in ourwebsites, on our platforms.
If they need any information,they can certainly call us. And
we just ask people that if youknow a loved one who may have
taken a hit but didn't bother togo through the process, step up
now because the money isavailable for you. If you
qualify, it could really helpyou cover some of the expense
(17:45):
that you might have spentrecovering and dealing with that
storm.
Paul Katool (17:49):
There you go. Absolutely. Very good
information information there.There. And we've got some fun
questions, did wanna circle backa little bit to back to the news
real quick.
So, I mean, you are a veteran.You you covered a lot of
different things. So can yougive us some of, like, the the
craziest, most interesting, ormost memorable stories that
Scott Simmons (18:05):
you covered mercy. Over the years? Oh gosh.
Covering David Duke, as areporter in Louisiana when he
the the Klan leader Right. Gotelected to the state house.
And, you know, I just moved fromOle Miss, not long removed from
Ole Miss, coming down there, andthey would try to tease me. And
I would respond back. Yeah.Don't give me a crud. Our nobody
elected our clan leader to astate house seat.
(18:27):
But I covered, David Duke duringhis run for US senate and for
governor and, you know,reporters that were wearing
bulletproof vests because theywere afraid somebody was gonna
take a shot at him and miss andhit one of the reporters. You
know, I covered Evan Edwards, ifyou remember the governor, Edwin
Edwards, Louisiana, who actuallyran against Duke for governor
(18:47):
and won. And, you know, thejoking the bumper stickers at
the time of that campaign wasvote for the crooked matters
because he was running againstDavid Duke. So you imagine what
it was like covering this almostatmosphere of a guy who was
flamboyant and controversial,David Duke. Then there's Edwin
Edwards with a personality and acontroversial background of his
own.
(19:08):
So I was literally every daycovering all of those. And then
the federal indictments, ofEdwin Edwards, a corruption
investigation. I covered thatfrom the first search warrant to
the third trial. I covered themafia's infiltration of the
state's video poker industry.Oh, wow.
If you wanna hear that story, Icould tell you a fun one.
Literally, Genovese and Gambinocrime families had set up straw
(19:31):
men to get video poker riverlicenses at truck stops. They
were filtering that money to thecrime families. So some of the
defendants were pleading guiltyone day. And right when they had
sentenced these guys, the yoursentence is this, I started to
walk out of courtroom to let thephotographers know downstairs,
hey.
They're getting ready to walkout. One of the defendants, Jojo
(19:52):
Carazzo, starts walking for thedoor. This guy's, like, five
foot three. Right? And I'm like,he he gets in front of me in the
elevator.
He's, like, up to my chest. AndI'm like, what are you doing,
little man? So we start walkingtowards the after we get down,
we start walking the door, hestarts doing the fast walk. And
I'm like, dude, yeah. Really?
So I just take start jogging. Hethinks he's gonna jog with me,
and I smoke him to the door,push the door up, told my
(20:14):
colleague I've talked to herbuddy, Tom Fisher. Tom, get him.
Tom grabs his camera. And thevideo is hysterical because this
little guy's trying to run downthe sidewalk, and all of a
sudden, Tom throws me the mic.
And all of sudden, we're runningbackwards. And finally, he just
looks at it. I'm not gonna runthese guys. And he puts his face
in the camera. I'm like, whatare you gonna do, little man?
We go back to the front of thecourthouse to do the interviews
with his attorney. Goes, yeah.Not many people would have
(20:36):
chased Jojo Carrazzo down thesidewalk. He was John Gotti's
driver. And we were like, maybeI should have rethought that
one.
You know?
Will Craft (20:43):
So Just sent him a gift basket for sure.
Scott Simmons (20:44):
Yeah. Go ahead, miss Carrazzo. Have a
Will Craft (20:46):
nice day.
Scott Simmons (20:47):
You know, the exciting times, in New Orleans.
And in this this career that Ihad that I covered so much, and
just seen so many things, andthose are some of the fun
highlights. Absolutely.
Paul Katool (20:57):
That's pretty good.
Will Craft (20:58):
Yeah. I can't beat that.
Paul Katool (20:59):
The craziness is stay is in Louisiana, and
Scott Simmons (21:01):
that's where
Paul Katool (21:02):
I know there's some here, but
Scott Simmons (21:03):
There's been some good stuff, but, unfortunately,
not quite as as that. But
Will Craft (21:08):
We'll take that.
Scott Simmons (21:09):
Think about all the governor's elections and and
the races that I've coveredgoing back to when Hailey Barber
had just got elected. And Sure.You know, we we circle back
towards Katrina, and I was doinglive shots for all these, you
know, networks, MSNBC or CNN.And people were asking at the
time, you know, why isMississippi getting all this
federal assistance whenLouisiana has so much damage?
And, you know, my response was,well, we elected the most
(21:30):
powerful lobbyist in Washingtonto be our governor.
Yep. And, you know, Thad Cochranis the, senate appropriations
chairman. That's how we'rerolling in. That that money that
flowed helped Mississippirebuild and recover. Okay.
And it was just an amazing timeas we covered all of that
because people talk about thestorm. They they remember the
flooding that happened in NewOrleans, but remind them where
(21:50):
the hurricane hit Mhmm. And thedamage that did here in
Mississippi. You know, the theproblems in New Orleans were
caused by the failure of thelevees largely Mhmm. That gave
way.
But we were the one that tookthe the big hit, and our coast
was wiped from the from from thesand to 90, you know, wiped out.
So
Will Craft (22:05):
It's an image I'm I'm certain at this point
everyone has seen. But just thatcasino sitting, you know, on
land, total that was just stilljust boggles my mind. You know?
Scott Simmons (22:16):
It it is. And and it being a child of the coast, I
mean, vacationed down there. Iwas as a kid, I always went down
for a week with my family. It'swhat we did. And so I could
always say that I went toBarasev's restaurant on the
coast to eat.
I can still remember what therestaurant smelled like. Gone.
You know? After after the wakeof Katrina when the Riverboat
casinos came in and changed thecomplexion of the Mississippi
(22:36):
Gulf Coast, and then when yousaw the hurricanes did to those
casinos and changed everything.And still to this day, when we
go down to do our as a reporterand now through MEMA that we see
still there's so many vacantlots that have not moved or done
anything because of the cost ofinsurance.
And Yeah. It's just, it'ssomething that we'll continue to
(22:56):
talk about for decades, I feel.
Will Craft (22:57):
There's no doubt. No doubt. Absolutely. The climb and
the comeback has been great,though. Yes.
Absolutely. Yep. Paul, we wecan, we can ease up on this on
the heavy questions Yeah. Mannow and just give him two
softballs here at the very end.Okay.
These are the, the fun questionswe do like to wrap up the
episodes with. We, obviouslylove to eat. We like to get out
(23:18):
on the road and go around andsee what's out there. We've got
a lot of good suggestions thusfar. So I know you spent a lot
of time traveling the roads andeating to places.
Maybe a a favorite hole in thewall somewhere you don't get to
go very often.
Scott Simmons (23:29):
Hole in the wall. Gosh. I don't know if you call
roosters a hole in the wall.I've always been a fond of
roosters, and I don't know aboutcalling a hole in the wall, but
I always loved it. I get I'm asimpleton.
They have a hamburger steakthere.
Will Craft (23:40):
Oh, yeah.
Scott Simmons (23:40):
They just ground black Angus beef. Yep. And I
love that joint. You know, I'm abig barbecue fan, of course. Pig
and pint's a good spot.
Will Craft (23:47):
Yes. Oh, yeah.
Scott Simmons (23:48):
The fine dining, I love Table 100. It's hard for
me not to make an argument forthem, because I love the shrimp
and grits there. Yep. That's myfancy spot. So
Will Craft (23:57):
The wife had that last week. That was our our
monthly date night, Table 100.So shout out
Scott Simmons (24:01):
right there. Lose for that. Great.
Paul Katool (24:03):
Well, those are some spots right there. The pig
and pine, that's a that's apersonal favorite of mine. Good
stuff. They do it right forsure. So besides, food, we're
also big music fans in publicaffairs.
I know you work with MikeyFlood, world's biggest biggest
fish fan. Right. We love we loveit all. Classic rock, you know,
that runs the gamut. But isthere a concert that, sticks out
(24:24):
over the years that you attendedin
Scott Simmons (24:25):
I've been going to more country music concerts
lately, and and in part becausethe Brandon Amphitheater has
provided that opportunity. I sawI saw Hank Williams junior. Oh,
yeah. Love it. Had to see HankWilliams junior
Will Craft (24:35):
At least once.
Scott Simmons (24:36):
Because I'll go back. When I was a student at
Ole Miss, I had won tickets tothe concert. My friends from
Mississippi State came over togo to concert with me, and we
had too much drink and nevermade it to the show. So when
Hank came a couple weeks back,I'm like, oh, I gotta make it
this time. It's if for nostalgiareasons only.
You know? That's great. I wastalking about Garth Brooks. We
got to go my wife is a hugeGarth Brooks fan. She's seen him
(24:58):
16 times.
I've seen him twice. But we werein Baton Rouge for the great
earthquake concert. We didcalling Baton Rouge in Tiger
Stadium, and the the it was soloud that the seismic equipment
at LSU recorded vibrations fromthe concert. You know, I've seen
some good ones. Pink Floyd, Isaw New Orleans at Superdome.
Will Craft (25:18):
Oh, man.
Scott Simmons (25:19):
Which at the time, you know, I'm sitting
almost ground level just up offthe floor towards the back. And
I thought, well, I'm a littlefar from the stage. But if you
know Floyd with the visualsSure. And I was like, this is
the best seat in the house. Youknow?
And it was just really great tosee that. So, yeah. You know,
college, I was a more of a REMfan. Okay. 10,000 maniacs, I've
seen them probably more thananybody.
(25:40):
But just I kind of evolved. Youknow? Whether it be Brian Adams
as survivor when they playedhere at the Coliseum back in the
eighties. That was wild. Youknow, just bounced around.
I I like to say that I I just gowith the wind when it comes to
music. And lately, just a lot ofcountry music, but, you know,
Luke Bryan was a great concert.I enjoyed him. So, yeah, I
bounce around, man.
Paul Katool (25:57):
I love that. Yeah. That's good stuff. We love
country music as well here, soawesome stuff. Scott, thank you
so much for coming in andjoining us.
Hey. You did a lot of good workin broadcast journalism, and now
you're helping outMississippians in a different
way. So thank you so much.
Scott Simmons (26:10):
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
Paul Katool (26:12):
Absolutely. We'll go ahead and wrap things up.
Thank you to our listeners, ourviewers for tuning in into the
Extra Mile podcast. You canwatch and listen to episodes by
visiting gom..com forward slashthe extramile. Follow us on
social media at Mississippi DOTis the handle.
Follow Mima as well. And, we'dlike to thank our, producer
editor Drew Hall for holdingthings down behind the scenes.
(26:33):
Remember to drive smart outthere on Mississippi highways.
Summertime is the season for road trips.
Before heading out on the openroad, MDOT recommends taking
some time for routine vehiclemaintenance. Check your tires
for proper wear and pressure.Make sure your battery is in tip
top shape. Keep an emergency kitin your vehicle's trunk, and
don't forget to check your car'sair conditioning because this
Mississippi heat is no joke.
Download the MDOT traffic mobileapp for real time updates on
(00:23):
traffic conditions across thestate, and follow
@MississippiDOT on Facebook, X,and Instagram.
Drew Hall (00:38):
MDOT presents the Extra Mile Podcast.
Paul Katool (00:49):
Welcome in to another edition of the Extra
Mile podcast presented by theMississippi Department of
Transportation. I'm Paul Katool,and as always, joined by my
cohost, Will Craft. Today, we'vegot a great guest, someone you
might recognize from broadcastjournalism where he worked at
WAPT since 2003, but he hasjoined the dark side of the
(01:11):
force, as we say, in ourindustry and has gone over to
MEMA is Mr. Scott Simmons.
And you are now the Director ofExternal Affairs over there. So,
yeah, really a dark force.
Scott Simmons (01:23):
I, you know, I just I look at it as a as a
wonderful opportunity.
Paul Katool (01:26):
Oh, yeah.
Scott Simmons (01:27):
It was wild. But I yeah. The dark side would be
the way to use it if you wannasay it that way.
But yeah. No. It's it was justit was just a great opportunity.
You know? And it really afterbeing a journalist for so long,
it was just it was that righttime to make that move.
Paul Katool (01:40):
No doubt. Yeah. So, kinda talk to us about this new
role. Obviously, there are somesimilarities between journalism
and communications. But, yeah,talk to us about what you're
doing in this new role here.
Scott Simmons (01:52):
Well, it was it was it was unique. It was. When
Director Steve McCraneyapproached me, I thought about
it. And I said, I've been ajournalist over thirty years,
and I was always the guy in thestorm.
I was always the guy who stoodin front of the hurricane when
it comes towards the beach, theguy who covered the tornado, did
the recovery stories, and it wasjust natural flow. And I started
thinking about it. If I wantedto do something different, now
(02:13):
would be the time to do it. Andso he and I spoke for a while,
and I thought, you know what? Ilike what they're doing over
there.
And so that's how the transitionhappened. And for me, storm
response, emergency response wassecond nature. We were speaking
earlier before we started thebroadcast about all the
hurricanes and Katrina coverageand things that were just, you
know, pack up your back, Scott.You're going south. So for me, a
(02:36):
lot of this was easy tounderstand, easy to relate to,
having covered not only thestorms that happened, the
preparedness aspects, but therecovery, which is so detailed
and something that I've learnedso much more about in my tenure
now as Director of ExternalAffairs is, good lord, there's
so many layers in helpingMississippians recover working
with FEMA and and getting thatfunding in and getting it to the
(02:58):
people's hands who need it inthe recovery.
It's been a learning experience.
Will Craft (03:02):
Awesome. Can only imagine drinking from the fire
hose, phrase we've you've usedquite frequently, on the show
for. How long now? So a couplemonths. Right?
Scott Simmons (03:11):
Yeah. Actually, at one point, I was working for
MEMA, and anchoring the newscaststill on the weekends.
Will Craft (03:18):
Double dipping there.
Scott Simmons (03:19):
Literally, I would start April 7 in Mima, but
my last newscast on WAPT wasEaster Sunday. And, literally, I
said, I'm putting the laptopdown, guys. I've gotta start,
you know, the other thing. But Iwas hailing double duty, you
know, because I had such a longhistory with Hearst, which owns
WAPT. It started with them whenI was just a young cub reporter.
Will Craft (03:38):
Yeah. We were just talking about that. Didn't
realize it went that far back.
Scott Simmons (03:40):
Yeah. I started in New Orleans at WDSU in 1993.
And, again, there, I coveredover a dozen hurricanes. And,
literally I that we had a rulethat I would cover hurricanes
from the Texas line all the wayto, say, Destin. Past Destin, we
would typically not go down.
But, you know, I would be theguy standing on the beach, and,
(04:01):
no, I would not do the JimCantore. Oh my god. I can't
stand up. But I would be the guyon the beach. And in fact, I
remember one time I was coveringa hurricane.
I think it was around OrangeBeach, Perdido Key, and I get a
call from the station. Said,Scott, you know, where are you?
You in front of a building? AndI'm like, no. What do you mean?
I said, well, the guy from theCBS affiliate says you can't
stand up, and he says he's inPerdido too. And I looked down
(04:22):
the beach, and he's about 50yards doing the, oh my god. I
can't stand up. Like, I'm notgonna do that. That guy went on
to CNN.
I didn't. So, you know, it's allhow you look at it, but, it was
it was always the thing that Ialways covering the storms and
disasters wherever it washappening, which was always the
beauty of our business is thatyou never know from day to day
what you're gonna be covering.
Will Craft (04:41):
Sure.
Scott Simmons (04:42):
The diversity was always the draw in journalism to
me is that, know, one day I'llbe at the legislature. Next day,
I'll be covering a crime.
Next day, I'll be talking aboutpublic policy for education.
Even MDOT, I did a lot ofstories with MDOT.
Paul Katool (04:55):
For sure.
Scott Simmons (04:56):
Surely, in the latter days before I left WAPT,
and my argument was always thatyou talk about stories that are
tangible that matters, roads,bridges, everybody drives over
them, people care. And I wouldmake that case for a lot of
stories when we talk aboutbridge projects or road
projects. And, certainly, wetalked about increasing funding
for MDOT. That was the bread andbutter that I argued people can
relate to. You may not careabout a school board fight in
(05:20):
Madison County, but you're gonnacare about the I-20 road
improvements or the m a theHighway 80 Bridge replacement
there between Rankin and HindsCounty.
And so I always like those kindof moving around type of aspects
of the job.
Paul Katool (05:32):
Definitely. And so you've been at MEMA for a few,
couple months now. Is thereanything that you miss about the
old job? Are you just reallyhappy to come to another -
Scott Simmons (05:42):
I've enjoyed it. I mean, I've missed certainly
being a journalist. I, I didn't,I wasn't a guy who hated my
profession. I actually lovebeing a journalist.
Will Craft (05:48):
Sure. Sure.
Scott Simmons (05:49):
You know? And so when I left, it wasn't because I
didn't like my colleagues or thework I did. I really enjoyed it.
I might miss a little bit of theadrenaline
Paul Katool (05:57):
Right.
Scott Simmons (05:57):
Of you're doing something one day, and you
literally drop your bag becauseyou're going to something that
you didn't see coming. And so itwould force those neurons to
fire. You know? And you'realways thinking about how can I
communicate? How can I relatethe story?
And how can I make it relatableto viewers? That was a four hour
deadline. Typically, every day,you do an editorial meeting at
09:30. I was out the door before10AM because I wanted to get
(06:19):
going. And so, you wouldn'ttypically have the stories
written by 2, 03:00, but thenyou'd be live at 5 and 6
And by that time, when youfinish writing the story to when
you're actually on air, therewould always be another caveat,
another nugget that would comein that you would have to adapt.
So, the thing that I do missabout that was that that
suddenness, that that excitementand adrenaline and, and madness,
(06:39):
licensed madness, we called it
Will Craft (06:41):
Yeah.
Scott Simmons (06:41):
Of the business. What I've enjoyed about MEMA so
much is the public service armof it.
Will Craft (06:46):
Sure.
Scott Simmons (06:47):
And when you sit at a table with a bunch of
people who you realize theyreally care about what they're
doing, and they're reallyknuckles down, get the job done
mentality over there at MEMA.It's been really exhilarating
because we talk about how can weserve Mississippians. They talk
about how can we get services tothem and get it done. And it's
not just a cliche. It's not justa line.
(07:08):
Even behind the closed doors,that's really conversations that
take place. We were havingconversations this morning
talking about our our responsefrom the March 14-15 storms and
how we are still seeing afteralmost three weeks of these
disaster recovery centers beingopened, we still have five
opened. We're still seeing, youknow, as much as a 100 people
coming in each day seekingassistance from those storms
(07:30):
because we had to wait so longfor the presidential declaration
to come in. Sixty-eight days wasthe longest we had had to wait
for such a declaration. But oncewe did get moving and we once we
got the green light, we were onthe ground, and we're setting up
those disaster recovery centers,and we're still seeing people
three weeks into the game stilllining up, seeking for help of
(07:52):
of things that they tried to doon their own, and now are
getting some assistance inrecouping some of that money.
Will Craft (07:57):
Good. Yeah. I think we we saw the press release, I
think, maybe last week.
Paul Katool (08:01):
Yeah.
Will Craft (08:01):
Kinda detailing some of that.
Scott Simmons (08:03):
We're we're we're move from the press side, we're
definitely moving a lot ofmaterial because we wanna tell
people how much is being done,with our federal and local
partners. We always talk aboutfederally-funded, state-managed,
locally-implemented.
Will Craft (08:14):
Absolutely.
Scott Simmons (08:15):
Which is the key to what we do. And in this right
now, when we have our MEMA teamworking hand in hand with FEMA
at these disaster recoverysites, it's all about geared
towards that person, helpingthat survivor get back on their
feet and get their lives backtogether.
Will Craft (08:30):
No doubt about it. And you guys do an excellent job
at all that. We every year, we,we try to make this an annual
podcast and visit with the folksout at MEMA. Such a critical
role out there, and we sort oftouched on it just briefly
already. But as you mentioned,hurricane season is here. We're
getting into it.
Scott Simmons (08:44):
It is. And we were talking about Hurricane
Katrina, which for me was,obviously a very big occasion in
my life, a big milestone in mycareer. I had been at, the NBC
in New Orleans for almost elevenyears. When they first
approached me, Hearst, aboutmoving to Jackson to be the main
anchor, my first reaction was,wait a minute. What?
(09:04):
Then I started thinking aboutit, where I wanted to raise a
family. I grew up in SouthJackson. A lot of people think
I'm from Louisiana because I wasthere there so long, but I'm
actually from South Jackson. AndI started thinking about where I
wanted to raise my children, andit was here. That was the key
reason I moved here.
Sold the house in Lakeview, NewOrleans a year and three months
before Katrina hit.
Will Craft (09:23):
Crazy.
Scott Simmons (09:24):
The house got 10 feet of water. When the storm
happened, all my friends WDSU,again, the company, Hearst owns
WDSU and WAPT, they evacuated toour studios. We had to put them
in hotels as in Walthall when wesaw open as a hotel.
Paul Katool (09:39):
Oh, wow.
Scott Simmons (09:39):
I remember some of them saying, know, "Scott,
I'm a come stay at your house."And I'm like, "I have no
electricity. You have a hotshower and lights. I'm sleeping
on my back patio."
But during that era, it was soeye opening because we went on
the air for six and a half daysstraight. No commercials,
formatting, no newscastscripting. It was literally the
old school rip and read. Theywould rip wire copy from it,
(10:02):
hand it to me. They would say,"Scott, we've got a aerial
coming in from CNN of the firstshots of New Orleans," and
I'd jump on the desk with NormanRobinson, my colleague from WDSU
at the time.
And we started looking at thoseaerials, and I could say that's
West End Boulevard. That'sCatina Drive right there.
That's, the Central BusinessDistrict as we watched those
first images come in. And wewould start at 10:00 in the
(10:25):
morning, say, I'll come in, andI would anchor for a couple
hours at the time, then myco-anchor, Joyce Brewer, would
jump on the set. I'd take acouple hours, get back on the
set, and I'd go till ten oreleven at night.
Our colleagues from they jump onthe anchor desk and take over.
We were just wall to wall untilour morning crew would get on.
And so we did that for about sixand a half days before we
started scripting newscasts,having rundowns. And, you know,
(10:47):
we were seeing those firstimages of the Superdome. You
know, none of that was scripted.
Will Craft (10:52):
Yeah.
Scott Simmons (10:52):
We were literally seeing it as it was unfolding
and those heart wrenchingimages. And as we look back now
twenty years, it's hard tobelieve how far we've come. We
are still working Katrinaresolution projects. There's
still one left in Biloxi, Ibelieve it's a water project,
that's still providing Katrinadisaster funding to that
(11:12):
municipality as they doinfrastructure repair from that
grant funding money. Twentyyears has been a long time
coming, and we always ask peopleas we look now towards the
hurricane season, don't take itfor granted.
Will Craft (11:24):
Amen.
Scott Simmons (11:24):
Because they they when when the National Hurricane
Center predicts it's gonna be anactive season or it's gonna be a
less than active season, I'djust tune it out because it only
takes one storm. You say it'sgonna be a less than active
season, but you get onehurricane that hits your shore,
and it could wreck your worldforever.
Will Craft (11:43):
Absolutely.
Scott Simmons (11:43):
Which brings us back to Katrina. Remember, that
split the state. It wentstraight up the state. If you
think only hurricanes matter tothose on the coast and I don't
know if you guys remember. Youguys were younger.
I'm sure. Mhmm. But, you know,here in Jackson, there's no
power.
Will Craft (11:56):
Right.
Scott Simmons (11:57):
Right. No gasoline. And it was way for
much of the center or part ofthe state, it laid a wasteland
in its path. And and we spent somuch time covering in the wake
of the storms. You know, the gozone money, the federal money
that was available to helppeople recover because there was
so much damage from the coast tothe Central North parts of the
state.
We turn our eyes now towardsthis hurricane season, and we
(12:19):
tell people to be prepared andstart thinking about what you
can do. We like to say the firstthree days are on you. The first
seventy-two are on you. Thinkabout it. Do you have
seventy-two hours worth ofwater?
Will Craft (12:30):
Right. Yeah.
Scott Simmons (12:31):
If you're dealt with a Jackson water crisis, you
Will Craft (12:33):
Sure.
Scott Simmons (12:33):
You don't appreciate water until you don't
have it. Have you got seventytwo hours of water? Have you got
canned goods that could get youthrough in a pinch?
What would you do if you lostpower for a week? Think about
your propane grill.
Will Craft (12:46):
Yeah.
Scott Simmons (12:46):
Think about your charcoal, thing like that. You
could make it work if you have aplan, but if you don't, then
you're gonna have a hard time.
Will Craft (12:53):
That's right. I I will not say that I am the best
prepper at all in in, you know,any stretch of the imagination,
but one of my favorite quotes ofall time was the old Abe
Lincoln, failing to prepare ispreparing to fail. You know?
That's one of those situationswhen the worst of the worst
scenario is is at your door.
You better have some type ofplan in place.
Scott Simmons (13:10):
And we ask people to start only thinking about
food and water, but where wouldyou go? Where would your loved
ones you got friends on thecoast? Those people that have
moved down to the coast in thetwenty years since may not have
a firm grasp of what a hurricanecan do. They may have some
naive,
Will Craft (13:27):
That's a good point.
Scott Simmons (13:27):
for lack of a better description, idea of what
it's like to be on the coast.
Reach out to them. Make surethey know they have a place to
go. Because remember, when wehave storm evacuations, you have
what? Contraflow.
Will Craft (13:38):
That's right.
Paul Katool (13:38):
Right.
Scott Simmons (13:38):
Which MDOT knows all about.
Paul Katool (13:40):
Definitely.
Scott Simmons (13:40):
And and that is such an important counterflow
plan. You're gonna have allthese people coming up.
Hattiesburg is gonna become sucha huge
Will Craft (13:46):
Oh, yeah.
Scott Simmons (13:47):
mecca because those people, a lot times, think
that they can evacuate to justan hour off the coast.
Well, they'll need to comefurther north. So when you think
about yourhurricane preparedness plans,
think about what are yourfriends and family gonna do. Do
they know where they can go? Doyou know where you would go if
your home did get hit by atornado that could pop out of a
hurricane, drop on your home?Where would you go?
Where would your loved ones meetif your home got demolished and
(14:10):
you had to have a meeting place?Have that street corner lined
up, that uncle's house where youknow you can meet, and that
contact list. It's so important.
Will Craft (14:17):
You know, I could actually, you say that. I
haven't thought about that in along time, but I, I think what
was it? The Muster Stationthings you did in high school,
you know, if if the scenario,you knew where to go.
Paul Katool (14:25):
Yeah.
Will Craft (14:25):
It was just at least that far. Right?
Scott Simmons (14:27):
And it's important that you start
thinking about it now because,again, we're just starting the
hurricane season. Historically,we've always seen that the
hurricanes get busier towardslate July, August, September.
But, really, that July to Augustwindow is when we see the most
activity in our area when theGulf is waters are warmer. As
you remember, we start watchingthese these systems move. It's
(14:48):
when they hit that tip ofFlorida and hit the warm waters
of The Gulf, that's when theybuild their strength.
That's when they become soimpactful. And so start thinking
about that now, getting yourplan together, and thinking
about what your loved ones willdo in the event that something
happens your way.
Paul Katool (15:03):
Absolutely. No doubt. And That's a lot of
really good information. Scott,do you have I know you guys do
at MEMA, like a hub forresources, a website we can go
to, or social media?
Scott Simmons (15:14):
We have multiple platforms, which we are proud
of. Certainly, our award winningMEMA app, which has everything
right there at the tip of yourfingers. It's the MEMA app, the
msema,uh,org.org, our website,which has just an abundance of
information and links to peoplelike like mdot. You know, we
have all these connections, andwe're so proud of what we're
trying to do through our MEMAapp and our MEMA website and our
(15:37):
social media platforms as youand I know on Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn,Nextdoor. We're Twitter, our x
now, we call it.
We're hitting all of theseplatforms at the same time
because we know that so manypeople get their information so
many different ways. That'sright. And so, yeah, we're
hitting them all there.
Paul Katool (15:54):
Absolutely. Yeah. So if you're in those lower six
coastal counties especially,please go check out resources
that MEMA has. They're they'regreat resources. And we we
really work hand in hand withMEMA and have our own resources
as well, so wanted to give thata shout out real quick.
For evacuation routes, ourhurricane evacuation guide,
visit gom..com/hurricanes. Youdownload that for free. There's
(16:19):
also a hurricane, preparednesschecklist there. So please,
between MEMA and MDOT, we've gotyou covered. But like Scott was
saying, please do it now.
Scott Simmons (16:27):
And get familiar with it. Your your websites,
your MDOT platforms have accessto those traffic cameras that
you can access on a map. Itreally is invaluable when you're
trying to you got a familycoming up safe from Ocean
Springs. What does I I 10 looklike or 55? Well, you can go
click on m dot camera, pull upthat shot, get a feel for what
they're dealing with, and youcan be a valuable resource for
(16:47):
that loved one who's evacuatingnorth.
Hey. This is what 49 looks likeright now because you can look
at that camera.
Paul Katool (16:53):
Exactly. Hey. We've got you covered for sure. Yeah.
Well, there's lots lots aboutlots of good information on
hurricanes just now.
Anything else kind of that'sgoing on at MEMA right now that
you'd like to shout out?
Scott Simmons (17:03):
Right now, we're just we're really hyper focused
on the disaster recovery fromthe March storms. And we have
again, we're seeing as many as a100 people come in. I think it
was yesterday in Jeff DavisCounty, to one of our disaster
recovery centers. We're reachingout to people because there are
resources that are available andassistance that's available for
those who may have gotten a hit,finally gave up, waiting, and
(17:25):
just tried to move on. There'sopportunities for them, and we
have links to all that in ourwebsites, on our platforms.
If they need any information,they can certainly call us. And
we just ask people that if youknow a loved one who may have
taken a hit but didn't bother togo through the process, step up
now because the money isavailable for you. If you
qualify, it could really helpyou cover some of the expense
(17:45):
that you might have spentrecovering and dealing with that
storm.
Paul Katool (17:49):
There you go. Absolutely. Very good
information information there.There. And we've got some fun
questions, did wanna circle backa little bit to back to the news
real quick.
So, I mean, you are a veteran.You you covered a lot of
different things. So can yougive us some of, like, the the
craziest, most interesting, ormost memorable stories that
Scott Simmons (18:05):
you covered mercy. Over the years? Oh gosh.
Covering David Duke, as areporter in Louisiana when he
the the Klan leader Right. Gotelected to the state house.
And, you know, I just moved fromOle Miss, not long removed from
Ole Miss, coming down there, andthey would try to tease me. And
I would respond back. Yeah.Don't give me a crud. Our nobody
elected our clan leader to astate house seat.
(18:27):
But I covered, David Duke duringhis run for US senate and for
governor and, you know,reporters that were wearing
bulletproof vests because theywere afraid somebody was gonna
take a shot at him and miss andhit one of the reporters. You
know, I covered Evan Edwards, ifyou remember the governor, Edwin
Edwards, Louisiana, who actuallyran against Duke for governor
(18:47):
and won. And, you know, thejoking the bumper stickers at
the time of that campaign wasvote for the crooked matters
because he was running againstDavid Duke. So you imagine what
it was like covering this almostatmosphere of a guy who was
flamboyant and controversial,David Duke. Then there's Edwin
Edwards with a personality and acontroversial background of his
own.
(19:08):
So I was literally every daycovering all of those. And then
the federal indictments, ofEdwin Edwards, a corruption
investigation. I covered thatfrom the first search warrant to
the third trial. I covered themafia's infiltration of the
state's video poker industry.Oh, wow.
If you wanna hear that story, Icould tell you a fun one.
Literally, Genovese and Gambinocrime families had set up straw
(19:31):
men to get video poker riverlicenses at truck stops. They
were filtering that money to thecrime families. So some of the
defendants were pleading guiltyone day. And right when they had
sentenced these guys, the yoursentence is this, I started to
walk out of courtroom to let thephotographers know downstairs,
hey.
They're getting ready to walkout. One of the defendants, Jojo
(19:52):
Carazzo, starts walking for thedoor. This guy's, like, five
foot three. Right? And I'm like,he he gets in front of me in the
elevator.
He's, like, up to my chest. AndI'm like, what are you doing,
little man? So we start walkingtowards the after we get down,
we start walking the door, hestarts doing the fast walk. And
I'm like, dude, yeah. Really?
So I just take start jogging. Hethinks he's gonna jog with me,
and I smoke him to the door,push the door up, told my
(20:14):
colleague I've talked to herbuddy, Tom Fisher. Tom, get him.
Tom grabs his camera. And thevideo is hysterical because this
little guy's trying to run downthe sidewalk, and all of a
sudden, Tom throws me the mic.
And all of sudden, we're runningbackwards. And finally, he just
looks at it. I'm not gonna runthese guys. And he puts his face
in the camera. I'm like, whatare you gonna do, little man?
We go back to the front of thecourthouse to do the interviews
with his attorney. Goes, yeah.Not many people would have
(20:36):
chased Jojo Carrazzo down thesidewalk. He was John Gotti's
driver. And we were like, maybeI should have rethought that
one.
You know?
Will Craft (20:43):
So Just sent him a gift basket for sure.
Scott Simmons (20:44):
Yeah. Go ahead, miss Carrazzo. Have a
Will Craft (20:46):
nice day.
Scott Simmons (20:47):
You know, the exciting times, in New Orleans.
And in this this career that Ihad that I covered so much, and
just seen so many things, andthose are some of the fun
highlights. Absolutely.
Paul Katool (20:57):
That's pretty good.
Will Craft (20:58):
Yeah. I can't beat that.
Paul Katool (20:59):
The craziness is stay is in Louisiana, and
Scott Simmons (21:01):
that's where
Paul Katool (21:02):
I know there's some here, but
Scott Simmons (21:03):
There's been some good stuff, but, unfortunately,
not quite as as that. But
Will Craft (21:08):
We'll take that.
Scott Simmons (21:09):
Think about all the governor's elections and and
the races that I've coveredgoing back to when Hailey Barber
had just got elected. And Sure.You know, we we circle back
towards Katrina, and I was doinglive shots for all these, you
know, networks, MSNBC or CNN.And people were asking at the
time, you know, why isMississippi getting all this
federal assistance whenLouisiana has so much damage?
And, you know, my response was,well, we elected the most
(21:30):
powerful lobbyist in Washingtonto be our governor.
Yep. And, you know, Thad Cochranis the, senate appropriations
chairman. That's how we'rerolling in. That that money that
flowed helped Mississippirebuild and recover. Okay.
And it was just an amazing timeas we covered all of that
because people talk about thestorm. They they remember the
flooding that happened in NewOrleans, but remind them where
(21:50):
the hurricane hit Mhmm. And thedamage that did here in
Mississippi. You know, the theproblems in New Orleans were
caused by the failure of thelevees largely Mhmm. That gave
way.
But we were the one that tookthe the big hit, and our coast
was wiped from the from from thesand to 90, you know, wiped out.
So
Will Craft (22:05):
It's an image I'm I'm certain at this point
everyone has seen. But just thatcasino sitting, you know, on
land, total that was just stilljust boggles my mind. You know?
Scott Simmons (22:16):
It it is. And and it being a child of the coast, I
mean, vacationed down there. Iwas as a kid, I always went down
for a week with my family. It'swhat we did. And so I could
always say that I went toBarasev's restaurant on the
coast to eat.
I can still remember what therestaurant smelled like. Gone.
You know? After after the wakeof Katrina when the Riverboat
casinos came in and changed thecomplexion of the Mississippi
(22:36):
Gulf Coast, and then when yousaw the hurricanes did to those
casinos and changed everything.And still to this day, when we
go down to do our as a reporterand now through MEMA that we see
still there's so many vacantlots that have not moved or done
anything because of the cost ofinsurance.
And Yeah. It's just, it'ssomething that we'll continue to
(22:56):
talk about for decades, I feel.
Will Craft (22:57):
There's no doubt. No doubt. Absolutely. The climb and
the comeback has been great,though. Yes.
Absolutely. Yep. Paul, we wecan, we can ease up on this on
the heavy questions Yeah. Mannow and just give him two
softballs here at the very end.Okay.
These are the, the fun questionswe do like to wrap up the
episodes with. We, obviouslylove to eat. We like to get out
(23:18):
on the road and go around andsee what's out there. We've got
a lot of good suggestions thusfar. So I know you spent a lot
of time traveling the roads andeating to places.
Maybe a a favorite hole in thewall somewhere you don't get to
go very often.
Scott Simmons (23:29):
Hole in the wall. Gosh. I don't know if you call
roosters a hole in the wall.I've always been a fond of
roosters, and I don't know aboutcalling a hole in the wall, but
I always loved it. I get I'm asimpleton.
They have a hamburger steakthere.
Will Craft (23:40):
Oh, yeah.
Scott Simmons (23:40):
They just ground black Angus beef. Yep. And I
love that joint. You know, I'm abig barbecue fan, of course. Pig
and pint's a good spot.
Will Craft (23:47):
Yes. Oh, yeah.
Scott Simmons (23:48):
The fine dining, I love Table 100. It's hard for
me not to make an argument forthem, because I love the shrimp
and grits there. Yep. That's myfancy spot. So
Will Craft (23:57):
The wife had that last week. That was our our
monthly date night, Table 100.So shout out
Scott Simmons (24:01):
right there. Lose for that. Great.
Paul Katool (24:03):
Well, those are some spots right there. The pig
and pine, that's a that's apersonal favorite of mine. Good
stuff. They do it right forsure. So besides, food, we're
also big music fans in publicaffairs.
I know you work with MikeyFlood, world's biggest biggest
fish fan. Right. We love we loveit all. Classic rock, you know,
that runs the gamut. But isthere a concert that, sticks out
(24:24):
over the years that you attendedin
Scott Simmons (24:25):
I've been going to more country music concerts
lately, and and in part becausethe Brandon Amphitheater has
provided that opportunity. I sawI saw Hank Williams junior. Oh,
yeah. Love it. Had to see HankWilliams junior
Will Craft (24:35):
At least once.
Scott Simmons (24:36):
Because I'll go back. When I was a student at
Ole Miss, I had won tickets tothe concert. My friends from
Mississippi State came over togo to concert with me, and we
had too much drink and nevermade it to the show. So when
Hank came a couple weeks back,I'm like, oh, I gotta make it
this time. It's if for nostalgiareasons only.
You know? That's great. I wastalking about Garth Brooks. We
got to go my wife is a hugeGarth Brooks fan. She's seen him
(24:58):
16 times.
I've seen him twice. But we werein Baton Rouge for the great
earthquake concert. We didcalling Baton Rouge in Tiger
Stadium, and the the it was soloud that the seismic equipment
at LSU recorded vibrations fromthe concert. You know, I've seen
some good ones. Pink Floyd, Isaw New Orleans at Superdome.
Will Craft (25:18):
Oh, man.
Scott Simmons (25:19):
Which at the time, you know, I'm sitting
almost ground level just up offthe floor towards the back. And
I thought, well, I'm a littlefar from the stage. But if you
know Floyd with the visualsSure. And I was like, this is
the best seat in the house. Youknow?
And it was just really great tosee that. So, yeah. You know,
college, I was a more of a REMfan. Okay. 10,000 maniacs, I've
seen them probably more thananybody.
(25:40):
But just I kind of evolved. Youknow? Whether it be Brian Adams
as survivor when they playedhere at the Coliseum back in the
eighties. That was wild. Youknow, just bounced around.
I I like to say that I I just gowith the wind when it comes to
music. And lately, just a lot ofcountry music, but, you know,
Luke Bryan was a great concert.I enjoyed him. So, yeah, I
bounce around, man.
Paul Katool (25:57):
I love that. Yeah. That's good stuff. We love
country music as well here, soawesome stuff. Scott, thank you
so much for coming in andjoining us.
Hey. You did a lot of good workin broadcast journalism, and now
you're helping outMississippians in a different
way. So thank you so much.
Scott Simmons (26:10):
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
Paul Katool (26:12):
Absolutely. We'll go ahead and wrap things up.
Thank you to our listeners, ourviewers for tuning in into the
Extra Mile podcast. You canwatch and listen to episodes by
visiting gom..com forward slashthe extramile. Follow us on
social media at Mississippi DOTis the handle.
Follow Mima as well. And, we'dlike to thank our, producer
editor Drew Hall for holdingthings down behind the scenes.
(26:33):
Remember to drive smart outthere on Mississippi highways.
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