Video: 4 Week Anniversary of Louisville Tornado Finds Many Still Cleaning Up

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LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — Monday marks four weeks since the deadly tornadoes left behind tons of damage across North Mississippi, and even though it’s a holiday, that doesn’t mean all residents and volunteers are taking a break from cleaning up.

Emily Cassulo spent Memorial Day in Louisville, and found while some residents were taking the day off to spend with family and friends, others were using the holiday to play catch-up on clean-up.

“I’ve been busy working claims for the last month, so enjoying the holiday off, doing a little clean-up of my own,” said resident Joey Partridge.

One month later there are signs of progress in Louisville, but there’s still work to be done.

“Cleaning up here, and I’ve been cleaning up over at my family’s place, and trying to get everything ready for some kind of future. I don’t know what yet, but we’ll do something,” Partridge said.

That’s where the volunteers step in to help.

“We have chainsaw teams out working. We have debris teams out working. Two skid steers out working, trying to assist the homeowners – catch them while they’re home,” said Tony McNeil, Samaritan’s Purse.

Hundreds with the group Samaritan’s Purse have put in nearly 11,000 hours since the tornado touched down in April.

The group is used to working holidays, so Memorial Day is no exception.

“The only time we don’t work is on Sunday,” McNeil said. “We worship on Sunday, so the rest of  the time we work.”

Partridge says he hopes he’ll have more of a relaxing Memorial Day next year, sitting in front of a barbeque grill.

“Looking forward to getting our lives back on track again at some point in the future,” he said.

Samaritan’s Purse workers expect to head back to North Carolina on Wednesday.