From my place (southeast of Birmingham) to Jackson is about 3-4 hours. Weather's been stormy, but that's all moved to Georgia....Alabama and Mississippi can expect hot (mid-90's), dry weather through this weekend.
My daughter used to be the franchise editor for a Jackson-area magazine called "Portico"....from the pix and articles I read, it's a beautiful area. Moderate residential growth, too -- imagine there'll be plenty of new installations going in!