FEMA sends teams to assist in damaged Mississippi neighborhoods

AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – One week to the day from that damaging storm.

And clean up in Winona and Amory is just getting started.

There is help. Much of it will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA.

They have people on the ground, walking from home to home in damaged Mississippi neighborhoods offering assistance.

Some people who live in the area still don’t have internet access. And they need that to file an insurance claim and register with FEMA, but the residents are staying optimistic

Limb by limb. Brick by brick. The recovery process is moving forward in Amory.

Homeowners and volunteers are cleaning up as much as possible.

Much of the damage to homes and vehicles here is from tree branches.

But For Henry Beeks, that wasn’t the entire story. He and his wife saw weather damage to their property on Friday and then on Saturday.

“They came out here and cut all the trees and stuff off of the house and everything and then we’re sitting in the house and everything and before we know it I don’t know what happened the house just got caught on fire the day after that the house caught on fire and just went through I don’t really know what happened,” said Beeks.

It was terrible luck. Beeks and his wife lost everything in their home and have damage to all of their vehicles.

The Beeks couple needed guidance from members of FEMA’s Disaster Survivor Assistance team.

On Friday they went door to door, offering assistance to everyone impacted.

“Whether you have insurance or not we encourage everybody to register that way everyone is covered so if your insurance doesn’t come through for you maybe you can come back to FEMA and find out you know what we can offer,” said Esther Odungide, FEMA Task Force Leader.

Odungide said she and her team talked to 70 residents Friday. They stopped work at 3 p.m. because of possible bad weather.

The team plans to be back at it on Saturday.

With more storms in the forecast, Amory residents are keeping one eye on the weather, and staying hopeful this round will miss their town.

“We’re staying at the motel right now so after that, I don’t know what we’re going to do we’re just going to take it a day at a time that’s all we can do,” said Duane Gilleylen, storm survivor. “I do what I always do pray don’t think, pray, and trust God. Don’t be a fool get in your safe place and trust God.”

FEMA crews are expected to get started on the other side of town Saturday morning if the weather permits.

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