President Donald Trump denied a request from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for FEMA aid following severe storms in mid-March. Mississippi emergency officials are confident that it won’t happen here.The storm system that struck Arkansas is the same one that moved into Mississippi and produced multiple tornadoes, including a long-track twister in Walthall County, where three people were killed. Gov. Tate Reeves signed an emergency declaration April 1 for the two dozen counties that were affected by the storms over a two-day period in March. Stephen McCraney, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said he feels confident that the president will approve Mississippi’s request for aid.“There’s a slew of requests. There are 13 on the board right now from states that are asking for federal assistance,” McCraney said. “In Mississippi we spent the first 2 1/2 weeks after that disaster out there beating the path looking at homes and businesses.”MEMA also examined storm damage to public roads, culverts, farms, crops and apartments — anything and everything that was affected — before filing a request for federal aid. McCraney said Mississippi saw more than $18 million in damage during the March storms, which meets the threshold set by FEMA.“We do the work, we get FEMA down here with us to do those final joint preliminary damage assessments where we ensure that our numbers are good,” McCraney said. “We’re 233 homes and about 234 on the major side, so we’re solid in where we think we are in Mississippi before asking for federal assistance from FEMA.”McCraney said a number of volunteer organizations have stepped up to help victims of the storm while the state awaits federal assistance.
PEARL, Miss. —
President Donald Trump denied a request from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for FEMA aid following severe storms in mid-March. Mississippi emergency officials are confident that it won’t happen here.
The storm system that struck Arkansas is the same one that moved into Mississippi and produced multiple tornadoes, including a long-track twister in Walthall County, where three people were killed.
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Gov. Tate Reeves signed an emergency declaration April 1 for the two dozen counties that were affected by the storms over a two-day period in March. Stephen McCraney, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said he feels confident that the president will approve Mississippi’s request for aid.
“There’s a slew of requests. There are 13 on the board right now from states that are asking for federal assistance,” McCraney said. “In Mississippi we spent the first 2 1/2 weeks after that disaster out there beating the path looking at homes and businesses.”
MEMA also examined storm damage to public roads, culverts, farms, crops and apartments — anything and everything that was affected — before filing a request for federal aid. McCraney said Mississippi saw more than $18 million in damage during the March storms, which meets the threshold set by FEMA.
“We do the work, we get FEMA down here with us to do those final joint preliminary damage assessments where we ensure that our numbers are good,” McCraney said. “We’re 233 homes and about 234 on the major side, so we’re solid in where we think we are in Mississippi before asking for federal assistance from FEMA.”
McCraney said a number of volunteer organizations have stepped up to help victims of the storm while the state awaits federal assistance.
