EXHIBIT 99.1









              BANCORPSOUTH, INC. ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE OF
                   THIRD-QUARTER IMPACT FROM HURRICANE KATRINA


TUPELO, Miss., Oct. 3, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- BancorpSouth,
Inc. (NYSE: BXS) today announced its preliminary estimate of the impact from
Hurricane Katrina on its results of operations for the third quarter ended
September 30, 2005.

Aubrey Patterson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BancorpSouth, stated,
"We are extraordinarily proud of the response of our colleagues at BancorpSouth
to the disaster brought about by Hurricane Katrina. Whether through company-wide
contributions of money and supplies or through direct on-the-ground assistance,
our people and our company are continuing to rise to the challenges presented by
the destruction and disruption caused by the hurricane.

"We certainly expect the storm to have a pronounced negative economic impact on
the Gulf Coast region in the short to intermediate term. In the long term,
however, historical experience and the strong determination of people and
businesses to rebuild suggest that the region will ultimately undergo an
economic resurgence. As a long-term, integral part of the Gulf Coast community,
BancorpSouth is fully committed to helping its employees and customers recover
from this hurricane and helping the Gulf Coast area emerge as an even more
vibrant economic region."

As of September 30, 2005, management of BancorpSouth had estimated that, based
on the information available to it at the time, the effects of Hurricane Katrina
could decrease after-tax earnings by approximately $9 million, or 11.5 cents per
diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. This estimate includes
a pre-tax provision for credit losses of approximately $11.5 million primarily
as a result of Hurricane Katrina's impact on the Mississippi Gulf Coast region.
BancorpSouth does not expect to incur material credit losses in Louisiana from
the impact of either Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. Approximately $2.9
million, pre-tax, of the third-quarter impact is related to hurricane relief
efforts, assistance for affected employees and lost non-interest revenue, a
significant portion of which resulted from BancorpSouth's waiver of certain fees
and service charges for people and businesses in the affected area. There can be
no assurance, however, that the decrease in earnings and the provision for
credit losses will not exceed the above estimates.

BancorpSouth continues to assess the status of its Mississippi Gulf Coast
banking assets





damaged and operations disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. The aggregate impact of
this hurricane on BancorpSouth's financial condition and results of operations
may not be known for some time and must be measured by the extent of the damage
to BancorpSouth's properties, the extent of damage to the properties of its
customers (including property pledged to the bank as collateral), the
uncertainty regarding the final settlement of insurance claims and the impact of
government and other forms of assistance, and the uncertainty regarding the
expected rate of economic recovery in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release may not be based on historical
facts and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be
identified by their reference to a future period or periods or by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate,"
"expect," "may," "might," "will," "would," "could" or "intend." These
forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements relating
to the impact of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, the economic resurgence
of the Gulf Coast Region, earnings estimates and provision for and incurrence of
credit losses.

We caution you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements
contained in this news release in that actual results could differ materially
from those indicated in such forward-looking statements due to a variety of
factors. These factors may include, but are not limited to, the rate of economic
recovery in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina, the ability of
BancorpSouth to obtain additional reliable information in areas affected by the
hurricane, the amount and timing of general aid provided to areas affected by
the hurricane, assumptions made in BancorpSouth's financial analyses, changes in
economic conditions and government fiscal and monetary policies, fluctuations in
prevailing interest rates and the ability of BancorpSouth to manage its assets
and liabilities to limit exposure to changing interest rates, changes in laws
and regulations affecting financial service companies in general, geographic
concentration of BancorpSouth's assets, the ability of BancorpSouth to manage
its growth and effectively serve an expanding customer and market base, other
factors generally understood to affect the financial results of financial
services companies, and other factors described from time to time in
BancorpSouth's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake
no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances that occur after the date on which such statements were made.
BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Tupelo,
Mississippi with approximately $10.8 billion in assets. BancorpSouth Bank, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 250
commercial banking, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in Alabama,
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.

                                     - END -