While Trump overhauls FEMA, Mississippi tornado survivors await assistance
TYLERTOWN, Miss. — More than two months after a tornado destroyed his home, Brian Lowery still looks through the rubble, hoping to find a tie clip his mother gave him, made from the center stone of her wedding band.
'I still have hope,' Lowery said.
He, his wife and 13-year-old son made it to safety before the tornado ripped apart their trailer home of 15 years, but the recovery from the storm has been a slow and painful process. Mississippi's request for federal aid is still pending before the Federal Emergency Management Agency, meaning badly needed assistance has not yet made it to his hard-hit community of Tylertown to recover from the storms that struck in mid-March.
The delays could provide a glimpse into what's in store for communities around the country as the summer storm season arrives and FEMA is mired in turmoil. A stretch of states including Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma have already been battered with tornadoes this week, setting the stage for more disaster requests to FEMA. And the Atlantic hurricane season is just around the corner.
In Mississippi, nearly 20 tornadoes tore through the state on March 14 and 15, leaving seven people dead and hundreds of homes destroyed or damaged. Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves asked the Trump administration for a major disaster declaration on April 1. The state, and residents like Lowery, are still waiting.
The declaration would allow the state to access a wide range of FEMA resources, including financial aid for individuals and for government agencies still removing debris and repairing infrastructure.
'I don't know what you got to do or what you got to have to be able to be declared for a federal disaster area because this is pretty bad,' Lowery said. 'We can't help you because, whatever, we're waiting on a letter; we're waiting on somebody to sign his name. You know, all that. I'm just over it.'
The declaration would allow the state to access a wide range of FEMA resources, including financial aid for individuals and for government agencies still removing debris and repairing infrastructure.
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