FLOWOOD, Miss. -- In addition to the travel slowdown and economic downturn, car rental operators in the South have had to grapple with unusually fierce winter weather in recent months.

Damage caused by thunderstorms, tornadoes and flooding created a surge in insurance replacement business in the lower Mississippi Valley during November and December. But in early January, snowstorms as far south as Miami brought rental business to a momentary standstill.

A series of tornadoes and thunderstorms tore up the East South Central states through the Thanksgiving weekend, causing estimated damages of more than $36.5 million in Mississippi counties and major flooding from Southeast Arkansas to Middle Tennessee and across North Mississippi.

"A lot of the storm that hit our part of the area totaled everyone’s cars, so insurance paid out pretty quickly," said Christy Stephens, owner of U-Save Auto Rental franchises in Jackson and Flowood, Miss. "We definitely saw an increase in replacement inquiries the week after Thanksgiving, and the second and third weeks after were the biggest." Ten Mississippi counties were named federal disaster areas in a declaration signed by President Bush in early December, qualifying them for federal money and assistance in recovery. In a Madison County neighborhood near Stephens’ home, more than 50 houses were damaged and 25 were totally gone. Stephens knew many victims of the tornadoes personally and was compelled to help those in such desperate circumstances.

"One guy who came in to rent a car was about 6’3", and he said that during the tornado, he shoved his wife and kids into a utility closet and pried one hand under the baseboard and the other hand where the door jam was. He was trying to keep his family in the utility room while his feet were flying in the air," said Stephens.

U-Save in Jackson came to the aid of customers who literally lost everything by giving out some rentals free of charge. Many people came in having lost their driver’s license and credit cards, and Stephens called the Department of Transportation or the Highway Patrol to verify their licenses. She did not require deposits from the customers.

"We let those in the community know we would do our best to help everyone who came in, and that we would be willing to charge just what the insurance company was paying," said Stephens.

She rented cars at $15 and $16 dollars a day, which is almost half of her normal insurance rate. Stephens, who has about 250 cars in her fleet, rented approximately 30 more cars as a result of the storm.

In early January, South Atlantic states, which had enjoyed 70-degree temperatures through December, were hit with a major winter storm that paralyzed a region ill-equipped to handle icy conditions. A hazardous combination of snow and ice was responsible for at least 10 traffic-related deaths, stranded motorists, flight cancellations, power outages and school and business closures across the South. In Charlotte, N.C., 24-hour restaurants, malls, banks and corporations remained closed for days. Slick roads kept people indoors. Manager Scott Hill of Rent A Wreck of Raleigh, N.C., said business slowed down noticeably because people just weren't leaving home. Hill had seven or eight customers call in saying they were snowed in and couldn’t make it back, and he accommodated those who called.

"We got affected pretty hard -– no phone calls, people just weren’t interested in doing anything," said Sam Samara, part owner of Best Value Rentals & Sales in Pittsboro, N.C. The snow kept about one-fifth of his fleet from being returned in time.

Frank Colonna, president of Triangle Rent A Car, said business in the Raleigh area was strangled. "Our operations basically stopped. The whole downtown shut down. When we get that much snow in the Southeast, we just don’t have the plows to get rid of it. Folks tend to hibernate," he said.

However, Colonna said Triangle rented every four-wheel drive vehicle it had to clients who needed to commute, mainly to companies it services on a regular basis. Triangle luckily did not suffer any damage or loss to its fleet. Business was down approximately 15% until it started to pick up again Jan. 7.