Columbus city officials give FEMA tour of eight sites

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The federal disaster declaration process in Columbus continued to roll along.

FEMA has inspected eight sites at city-owned parks and buildings, including the Terry Brown Amphitheater.

City officials showed FEMA what was at the site before the February 23 tornado and flooding and what needs to be repaired now.

The city can be reimbursed up to 75% of the costs of FEMA approved claims.

“It’s a very intensive process of them reviewing because they’re not from here and they don’t know what was here beforehand and so we get to kind of walk them through everything. We make sure that they agree with everything and damages and the cost and then we can move forward to replacements,” said city engineer Kevin Stafford.

FEMA must approve of the damages and cost estimates before the repairs can begin.