Storm recovery still ongoing

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo)

Dec. 26--TUPELO -- Efforts to haul off debris from a late October storm will begin again in earnest next week.

The Lee County Board of Supervisors has contracted with a waste hauler to deal with the downed limbs and trees left behind when the remnants of Tropical Storm Olga rolled through the region. After a brief halt for the holidays, the county road manager Tim Allred expects activity to ramp up again next week.

"They go home for Christmas. January 3 is when they are coming back," Allred said. "They are going to be active all over the county."

Allred said that county residents with debris on their property should move it to a public road's right of way. The debris haulers will not go onto private property, including subdivisions with private rather than public roads.

If residents move debris "to the road, these guys are going to pick it up," Allred said.

Early this week, the county's contractors also hauled off debris in a Guntown subdivision battered by a tornado the week before Christmas.

Bill Benson, Lee County's interim county administrator, said the county has agreed to pay any costs that it must related to hauling off the Guntown debris.

A federal disaster declaration linked to the October storm will allow the county to tap into FEMA money to help pay for clean-up efforts following that event. A new disaster decree in response to the Guntown tornado would unlock further FEMA funding.

"Possibly, there will be another declaration," Benson said.

However, Benson said he's not yet certain the recent tornado damage will hit the necessary thresholds of damage required to earn the disaster declaration.

If the thresholds aren't met, Benson did not expect the financial burden to the county would be significant.

"From the county perspective, there wouldn't be a lot," Benson said. "This is more private damage."

The Guntown Hills subdivision bore the brunt of damage from the recent tornado, but Guntown Mayor Bud Herring said recovery is moving at a steady clip, with insurance adjusters on the ground and roof repairs underway.

"I think at this time everything is pretty much where it needs to be," Herring said. "We've been overwhelmed with donations."

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