A year ago today, a series of tornadoes ripped through Mississippi and other southern states, inflicting hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and costing the lives of 35 people.
At approximately 5:30 p.m., five of those tornadoes — ranging in strength from EF1 to EF3 — touched down in Lowndes County, and while the property damage was not as extensive as it was in Tupelo — where 2,000 homes and 100 businesses were damaged or destroyed — and there was no human toll as there was in Louisville, where 10 people died, the final cost almost doubled the preliminary estimates of $1 million.
Greg Flynn, public information officer for Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, told The Dispatch on Friday the final cost estimates in the county for six public projects approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency came to $1,492,000. Of that total, $1,050,000 in reimbursement had been made.
“Actually, the recovery in Lowndes County has been much faster than what we’ve seen in other areas,” Flynn said. “State-wide, there were 149 projects approved by FEMA at an estimated cost of $87,209,000. So far, FEMA has reimbursed $11.6 million of that total, with the remaining $75.6 million yet to be reimbursed. So you can see, things have moved a lot faster in Lowndes County than other areas.”
Flynn said most of those funds were designated to reimburse local agencies for debris removal, repairs to roads/bridges, overtime costs and repair of public buildings. FEMA covered 75-to-85 percent of those costs. In Lowndes County, the state covered the remaining balance. Counties whose damages were less extensive were required to pay 12.5 percent of the costs not covered by FEMA.
Lowndes County Emergency Management Director Cindy Lawrence said approximately 200 homes in Lowndes County received significant damage. Thirty-nine homes were destroyed, including 12 house trailers. Two churches were destroyed. Lawrence said 976 individuals registered with FEMA for a total $312,639 for temporary housing and $66,233.90 for other needs.
In addition to that aid, 24 applicants for emergency loans from the Small Business Administration were approved, for a total of $807,400 in loans.
A year after the tornadoes, Lawrence said she felt the recovery effort was very successful.
“I do think we bounced back pretty well,” she said. “I think most everyone, if not everyone, is back to where they were before the storm.”
Lawrence said she also feels as though the memories of what happened on April 28, 2014, will make the community better prepared for future weather emergencies.
“My sense is that people are more weather-aware,” Lawrence said. “More and more people have bought storm shelters and weather radios. I think the tornadoes really made people stop and think about how prepared they would be when another tornado comes.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is ssmith@cdispatch.com.
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