NATCHEZ &8212; The heavy rainfall the Miss-Lou has experienced in October has affected rural and urban areas alike.

Natchez Public Works Director Ronnie Ivey said his employees have dealt with a lot of drainage problems.

&8220;With this much rain some of the culverts in the drainage areas can&8217;t take it,&8221; Ivey said.

According to his rain gauge, Ivey said Natchez had six inches of rain last Monday and nine inches last Wednesday.

&8220;Four houses had water in them and we had to put sand bags at the back of the Renal Care Group building on Highland Boulevard,&8221; Ivey said.

Ed Agre, a forecaster for the National Weather Service, said the western half of Adams County has seen about eight inches this month.

The normal average for October is 3.97 inches, Agre said.

Though the amount of rain is substantial, Agre said it is not quite a record for the month.

&8220;The last October rainfall record set in Adams County was in 1984 when it rained 17.74 inches,&8221; Agre said.

The reason for the above-average rainfall this month, Agre said, is because the U.S. is experiencing El Ni&110;o-like weather patterns where the warming of the middle and eastern Pacific Ocean results in rainfall in winter and kills the Atlantic hurricane season.

Agre said the weather pattern might kill the Atlantic hurricane season, but it strengthens the Pacific season.

&8220;Hurricane Paul in the Pacific is supposed to dump rain on Baja California, across Texas and eventually along the Gulf Coast by Thursday,&8221; Agre said.

Ivey said the amount of water flowing through drainage ditches is not so much a problem as are leaves and other debris; citizens dump in gutters before storms.

&8220;There is an ordinance that says a person cannot dump leaves and other trash into their gutters and if you do you&8217;re supposed to be punished,&8221; Ivey said.

The ordinance Ivey referred to is Code 1969, sections 66-37 and 38 that states that all leaves, limbs, grass and weeds are considered garbage and should be placed in a trash can.

&8220;If people would follow the ordinance we wouldn&8217;t have flood problems when these heavy rains come,&8221; Ivey said.

Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said the rain was a good thing and that he did not see any major problems.

&8220;Lord knows we needed the rain,&8221; Copeland said. &8220;I have seen some standing water but nothing major.&8221;

Copeland said the riverfront area was the only thing affected by the rain.

&8220;It (the riverfront area) got a little muddy but we&8217;re repairing that,&8221; Copeland said.

Miss-Lou farmers also took a hit because of the recent rains.

Noble Guedon said he had to stop picking the last of his cotton crop in Jefferson County because of the rain.

&8220;We lost nine days of picking time because of the rain and now I suspect our yields and grades will decrease,&8221; Guedon said.

Luckily, Guedon said, he picked 85 percent of his cotton before the rains came.

&8220;We&8217;ll lose a little money but not much,&8221; Guedon said.

Al Ater farms cotton near Lake St. John and Horseshoe lake in Monterey and said of the 500 acres of cotton he had left to harvest, 15 percent of the cotton was lost or damaged due to rain.

Ater had 5,000 acres planted in cotton this year.

&8220;It&8217;s like the saying goes, you play with the hand your dealt,&8221; Ater said.

&8220;We weren&8217;t dealt a decent hand in this situation but it could have been a lot worse.&8221;