Community Recovery of Lowndes County opens 2 new homes but says there’s more work ahead to rebuild after 2019 tornado

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Community Recovery of Lowndes County held two dedication ceremonies Wednesday for homes that were destroyed in the 2019 EF-3 tornado but have since been rebuilt.

CRLC is currently in the process of repairing five other homes but they need more donations to continue their larger mission of rebuilding the entire community.

“I’m just glad to be back, said new homeowner Emmitt Ellis. “It’s been my family’s home for almost 50 years. Just glad and happy to be back home.”

Two years after his family found him hiding in a closet in the ruins of his house, Ellis was handed the keys to his brand new home Wednesday morning.

His was the first of two houses CRLC held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Wednesday and both are among the nearly 40 the organization has helped repair in the aftermath of the 2019 EF-3 tornado that hit Columbus.

“The storms displaced them but it wasn’t permanent,” said Board President Nicole Clinkscales. “We’re glad they were able to come back into their community because a lot of times, after devastation, communities have been ruined and people aren’t able to come back.”

And these homes are more than just wood and drywall to the people who lived there. Ellis says he almost considers it part of his family.

“This was an old family home for over 50-something years,” he repeated. “It means the whole world to me.”

Richard Moore, who first saw his new house back in February, says it feels even more like home after the second ribbon-cutting ceremony at his own home.

“The homes meant everything to us when it was the only thing we had at the time,” he said. “They were the only place we had to lay our heads. It was just great to have a home.”

CRLC has one final house to rebuild, located on Conway Drive. To do that, they needed to raise between $50,000 and $60,000.

While they rely solely on donations, Clinkscales has an even larger vision.

“Communities are devastated when storms and disasters happen,” she said. “If you look around, there is still some infrastructure work that needs to be done.”

That includes repairing asphalt, doing litter control and improving the landscape.

But none of that is possible without donations.

“Help us rebuild this community, step-by-step,” Clinkscales asked.

Click here to learn how to donate to Community Recovery of Lowndes County