Monroe County leaders talk about impact of storms
AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – Hundreds of people in Monroe County continue to clean up debris from the storms.
While many of you may have seen pictures, it’s hard to understand the extent of the damage the county is facing.
WCBI talked with District 3 Supervisor Rubel West about the twister’s impact on the city.
“It’s going to be a long time recovery. I couldn’t tell you how long,” said West.
What were once homes are now piles of rubble and the effects of Friday night’s tornado aren’t just being felt in the city of Amory.
West said several parts of Monroe County are also hurting today.
“We have extensive damage from the storms. It’s not just the city of Amory it starts over about a trail block and comes through Coontail road. Crosses into the Wren area. Comes into the city of Amory and goes out into the Smithville area and some parts of the Hatley area,” said West.
The Board of Supervisors met Monday for an Emergency meeting.
Several things were on the agenda, but all of the damage has left them with a very big question.
“What are we going to do with all this debris? We have the county landfill and we service the city of Amory also but we have extensive debris out in the county. Some time ago we started opening up a new cell and that new cell was supposed to take us so many years and we’re trying to make sure we can accommodate all the construction damage plus the limbs and stuff like that,” said West.
Almost three days later, Amory and other areas are still without power.
West says crews are working tirelessly and have made good progress but they have a lot of ground to cover.
“In the city of Amory, they are just below 50% being up so that means just a little over 50% are still out. Well you can divide, as you go back north that’s where your outages are so probably about 75% of those in the Northern part of Amory are still out and most of those people in the county are still out of power, ” said West.
The severity of the damage has also been attracting unwanted attention from sightseers.
That’s something Amory Police Chief Ronnie Bowen and his officers would like to see less of because they have other people who need access to the streets for more important business.
“We are trying to keep people who really don’t have any business here out of town because we have to get our power crews, water crews, road crews. Everybody is trying to get from one place to another and people can’t get through traffic. We’re just trying to get our job done and help the people who are trying to get to the people to help them and facilitate that,” said Bowen.
Supervisor West says they are trying to make sure that all people who have been affected have access to MEMA and FEMA services.
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