One committee works to meet needs of Lowndes County storm victims

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A new committee is working to meet the needs of storm victims in Lowndes.

It met for the first time on Thursday.

The Long Term Recovery Committee is focusing on housing and unmet needs.

Faith-based groups, volunteer agencies, and community members are joining forces to help.

Flooding and the February 23 tornado impacted 273 homes and businesses across Lowndes County.

A little over a month later, the scars of the storms are still seen across the area.

Dozens of victims are also still trying to figure out where they will be living six months from now.

That’s what the Long Term Recovery Committee is working to help change.

“This committee is going to help guide others for resources for helping rebuild all of these kind of things, but it takes a community to do that and not just one individual and not a government agency; it takes the community,” says Long Term Recovery Committee member Bro. Tommy Gillon.

“We are looking and recruiting for people that want to be a part of something that’s going to be a long term commitment, so this is not going to be one of those groups that you’re going to be able to join and finish in a month, and you’re done with this. We’re looking for a long-term commitment, so that we can reach every member in the community that was affected, if they need some unmet needs,” says Long Term Recovery Committee member Renee Sanders.

Damage on a carport, shingles blown off roofs of homes that don’t have the insurance to get that completely taken care of, these are the types of unmet needs the committee wants to help meet.

“The unmet needs just kind of depends on the individual. I have individuals that lost their nebulizer, their CPAP machine, and there’s no one to replace that. Unmet needs could be a variety and that’s the reason why we’re going to need case managers to actually go and see how we can be effective.”

Out of the nearly 300 damaged structures, 31 percent of them were rental properties, and 36 percent of storm victims didn’t have insurance

“It’s going to be those that maybe you did not have the insurance. I’ve heard that some insurance lapsed in between and you just need the assistance and you’d just be amazed at how many people were affected that did not have the insurance, maybe they were renting.”

Tommy Gillon is the Minister of 55+ Ministries and Disaster Relief and Missions at Fairview Baptist Church.

He’s helped reached unmet needs for storm victims all over the country.

Now, he said it’s time for him to do that same thing at home.

“Working in storms in the past for several years, as far away as Orange, Texas, Houston, Texas, and just recently down in Florida. You see the needs of the people and some of them just aren’t getting any help and they need help and they’re willing to do their part to get help and that’s what I want to do. It’s just all about the people.”

The committee is looking for more people to get involved.

They’re encouraging anyone interested to come to their next meeting on April 10, at 10 a.m., at the Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency.