Report the injury to your employer within 30 days, and if benefits are denied or ignored, file a Petition to Controvert (Form B-5) with the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission within 2 years of the injury. If you wait too long, the company and its insurer will argue it was just your old back problem acting up, not a new work injury. But Mississippi law can still cover an aggravation of a pre-existing condition if the storm-cleanup work made it materially worse.

Here is the blunt version: late reporting makes your claim harder, not automatically dead. The longer the gap, the easier it is for the adjuster to say your pain came from age, prior treatment, or something you did at home after the shift. That is especially common after hurricane-season cleanup, roofing, debris hauling, and wet-site work around Jackson, where employers know people push through pain for a few days before speaking up.

What to do now: tell your supervisor in writing that the cleanup work worsened your back, give the date, place, and task, and say your condition got dramatically worse after that incident or shift. Keep a copy.

Your employer or carrier should then file a First Report of Injury or Illness with the Commission and direct medical care. If they refuse, that does not erase your rights. You can still file Form B-5 yourself with the Commission in Jackson.

Mississippi workers' comp covers more than "brand-new" injuries. If lifting storm debris, slipping in flood mud, or repeated cleanup work turned a manageable back condition into one that now limits walking, sleeping, or working, that can qualify.

Get your medical records to say "work aggravated pre-existing condition" or similar language. If the chart only says "chronic back pain," the insurer will lean hard on that wording.

If you missed 30 days, report it anyway. If you are still inside 2 years, you may still be able to force the claim forward.