Whitney Downard / The Meridian StarGovernor Bryant visits East Mississippi to survey the Saturday night's tornado damage on Wednesday.

Just hours after Gov. Phil Bryant visited Lauderdale County Wednesday, federal officials announced that money is available for residents whose homes were damaged by Sunday’s tornado. 

Bryant said he had spoken to President Donald Trump Tuesday night, encouraging him to sign a declaration of emergency to provide federal funds to Mississippi. Just after Bryant left the area Wednesday, he announced via Facebook that the president had declared Lauderdale County as a Federal Disaster Area, one of four Mississippi counties.

“With more than 500 homes either destroyed or having suffered major damage, this federal assistance is critical to help these counties recover,” Bryant said in a statement.

Greater damage was done south of Lauderdale County as a tornado ripped a 31-mile path across Lamar, Forrest and Perry counties, killing four people. 

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Anyone with damage in Lauderdale County may apply for federal disaster assistance at disasterassistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362. The speech or hearing impaired may call (TTY) 1-800-462-7585.

“I’m always amazed at how people survive,” Bryant said as he surveyed the damaged homes on Green Loop Road in the northeastern portion of the county, about five miles south of Naval Air Station Meridian.

“If you look up about half a mile up (Campground Road) the damage to the trees… had that been a neighborhood it would have been a total loss,” Bryant said. “I’m here today and I’m meeting with emergency management, the first responders, the board of supervisors and making sure that we’ve got (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) on the ground, assessing the damage.”

County representatives, including Scott Spears, the director of the Lauderdale County Emergency Agency, accompanied Bryant.

Spears told residents they could apply for SNAP benefits at the Department of Human Services office near Meridian Community College. Spears also asked residents if they would like some volunteers from two churches to help clean up. The county has jurisdiction only on public roads and thus these volunteers could help on private properties.

“They contacted me and said they wanted to come up and help move debris,” Spears said.

Spears also announced that the health department would be visiting the area to administer tetanus shots on 10 a.m. Friday. Spears said the department would be a few miles away at Lockhart Church of God, also affected by the storm, but that they could possibly also set up a clinic on Green Loop Road.

Lauderdale County never received a warning of a tornado, which Bryant said could be attributed to gaps in the radar.

“We’ve been talking to FEMA and the National Weather Service about ‘How do we bridge that gap?’ Because there is a gap here in the radar systems so you don’t get to warn people just like you should,” Bryant said. “We have to have radar systems that will cover East Mississippi.”

For Mamie Harbin, who lost her home, talking to Bryant was encouraging.

“It means a lot that he took the time to show his support,” Harbin said. “Politicians should show that they are behind us as we are behind them.”

Cedric Silliman lived in a mobile home on Green Loop Road. A few concrete blocks remained where his home once stood. His trailer had flown into the trees in a ditch, making the home, and its items, nearly inaccessible.

“There’s really nothing left to get to,” Silliman, who lived there with two of his brothers, said. “It’s all smushed down and on top of each other.”

Silliman had just finished a months-long renovation earlier that Saturday, leaving for work before the tornado passed through.

“By 9:30 (p.m.), 10 (p.m.), it was gone,” Silliman, 32, said.

Silliman said most of the residents on Green Loop Road know each other. 

“We kind of grew up together. If we’re not family we’re all close friends,” Silliman said. “We’ve always been close – just like we are family.”

Volunteers from the American Red Cross intermingled with residents and county officials, assessing the needs of the community.

Volunteers from the American Red Cross intermingled with residents and county officials, assessing the needs of the community. Lindalee Slegelmilch said the agency would set up a local shelter, because there were more than ten people displaced by the storm. 

Slegelmilch, who has a doctorate in psychology, was in Lauderdale County to address the physical and emotional needs of residents affected by the tornado. 

 “It’s psychological first aid, just like physical first aid,” said Slegelmilch, who assessed Hattiesburg on Monday after a tornado killed four people there. “So they know they’re not alone, to give them support, to listen to their needs and get them access to community resources (for mental health).”

Slegelmilch said most residents were still in shock, but as the shock wore off, they could start experiencing anxiety, excessive worrying, confusion and hopelessness.

“We help them calm down and start forming a plan so they feel they are not helpless,” Slegelmilch said. “Their usual support system is also fractured and falling apart and that’s why we’re here.”

In addition to the food, water, stuffed animals (for children) and basic medication, Slegelmilch said that many residents just needed someone to take the time to hear their concerns.

“Most people just want someone to listen,” Slegelmilch said. “So I’ve been doing a lot of that.”