As neighboring cities rebuild this week in the wake of deadly tornadoes, Columbus is serving as a base camp for some victims and rescue crews, and locals are ramping up donations to relief efforts.
Columbus hotels are cutting rates for victims and crews from out of town and have already started donating sheets, towels and pillow cases to the Red Cross, said Wingate by Wyndham Hotel Sales Manager Deborah Stevenson.
Stevenson, whose hotel is spearheading the effort, said she has seen a 20 percent increase in guests because of the storm.
And that number, she continued, is “rising every day.”
Meanwhile, local car rentals are also up. Tamra White, manager of the Avis car rental location at Golden Triangle Regional Airport, said that the number of car rentals has increased in the aftermath of the storm.
Rentals typically increase after disasters, but White said the company was able to meet demand.
As Tuscaloosa rebuilds, many of the people working and living there will likely use hotels, rental cars and other services in Columbus, said Columbus-Lowndes Development Link CEO Joe Higgins.
While tornado victims are coming to Columbus, Columbus residents are also going to the victims, bringing aid and volunteers.
Donation efforts pick up
Volunteer efforts and donation drives are also picking up locally.
A weeklong drive for food, clothing and other items organized by the United Way of Lowndes County begins Monday at the United Way”s office at 501 7th Street N. The American Red Cross of Lowndes County also called for help from volunteers to man phones locally.
Unaffected United Way agencies were splitting the area they were helping, to increase efficiency, Lowndes United Way director Jan Ballard said. United Way of Lowndes County is serving Monroe County, which includes Smithville, Wren and other hard hit areas. United Way of North Central Mississippi (Starkville, Webster, Choctaw and Chickasaw counties and United Way of Clay County were serving Webster, Clay, Chickasaw and other communities hit in their service areas.
The agencies are working together to distribute supplies where they are most needed, Ballard said.
Other local volunteer efforts included a blood drive Saturday at Mississippi University for Women. Student groups partnered with United Blood Services for the drive to help victims.
Rachel Brock, a junior psychology major, said she wanted to get involved because she and her social club have a lot of friends and family in the affected area.
“We”ve had at least 75 people come in to donate blood, and at least 30 or 40 have come in to donate blankets, clothing, food, water and supplies,” she said. “We really just wanted to help any way we could.”
Fellow club member Lizzie Locker, a junior creative writing major, said the club “threw together” the drive while talking about the Tuscaloosa tragedy.
“We were thinking about all the horrible things that have happened in Tuscaloosa and the area and they”re so near to us,” she said. “We should be able to help.”
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