Tornado victims coming to terms with what was lost

By Ross Adams

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    ROLLING FORK, Mississippi (WAPT) — Clean-up and recovery efforts continue in Rolling Fork, a week after the devastating tornado leveled the city.

Gov. Tate Reeves was back in the city Thursday, where he talked about the need to bring the community back from ruin. But first, all of the debris will have to be removed before temporary homes can be placed on lots where houses once stood.

“Our house is a total loss. The (insurance) adjuster came (Wednesday) and looked,” Marlon Nichols, whose home was destroyed, said. “I’ve got to get up the courage to bring a bulldozer or a track hoe here and shove it to the street where they can haul it off.”

Reeves visited the American Red Cross shelter at South Delta Middle School in nearby Anguilla on Thursday, where storm survivors are staying. Reeves met with disaster relief workers and thanked them for their hard work in the past week. The governor will join President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and other local, state and federal officials Friday for a tour of tornado damage in Rolling Fork.

Power crews spent another long day in Rolling Fork replacing dozens of broken power poles and restringing downed wires.

According to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, more than 250 homes in the small town were destroyed or heavily damaged by the March 24 tornado that killed 13 people there.

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