The Jasper County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting Wednesday morning at the Courthouse in Bay Springs. The meeting was held to personally discuss with District 79 Mississippi House Representative Mark Tullos a problem the supervisors feel exists with Jasper County not being specifically named in a recent Federal Disaster proclamation.
An EF-4 tornado on Easter Sunday, April 12, left massive destruction in Moss and other areas of the county. An EF-1 twister, which was damage-report-assessed by the Jasper County Emergency Management Agency just as the EF-4 was, also passed near the track of the enormous storm, causing more destruction the same day.
The federal disaster request was initially sent by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves to United States President Donald J. Trump. The federal disaster order was then approved by President Trump on April 16. It was specifically mentioned in a press release from the Office of the Press Secretary of the President that three Mississippi counties that experienced heavy destruction from the same EF-4 tornado were included for private and public assistance. Those counties are Jones, Jefferson Davis and Covington. Jasper County was not named in that release, but the release does state that damage assessments are continuing in other areas and that more counties may be added for assistance when assessments are completed.
Tullos told the board he had reached out Monday to Governor Reeve’s Chief of Staff Brad White for an explanation about Jasper County not being included, especially with the catastrophic destruction that occurred in Moss.
“He (White) said I know there was some confusion about where Moss was located; whether it was in Jones County or whether it was in Jasper County. He said all that has been ironed out. Everybody from the governor to the lieutenant governor, on up and on down, knows that Moss is in Jasper County,” Tullos explained. “He said normally the way that works is that we wait 30 days until after the assessments are completed, then at that point and time the governor makes that request to the federal government. He said in this case, because it was so obvious that those three counties (Jones, Jefferson Davis and Covington) had substantial damage and that they would qualify for federal disaster relief, he (Governor Reeves) went ahead and got the ball rolling and made that request for federal disaster relief to the president.”
Tullos went on to explain to the board that he had also reached out to MEMA’s Tina Jordan, who covers the Central Mississippi area. He said Jordan mentioned Jasper County would “almost” certainly qualify for federal assistance as far as “public relief” for debris removal. Tullos mentioned Jordan relayed that FEMA has to complete its assessment, which is being done with drones. He said he was told as soon as the assessment is completed the information would be processed and submitted to get Jasper County added to the federal disaster relief order. However, he was not given a specific deadline of when this would take place.
Tullos brought attention to the board the word “almost” as far as the certainty he was told about the federal relief.
“I wish I could come here today and say Jasper County has been approved, but I can’t do that. Just be optimistically cautious, I guess, is the best way to look at it,” he said. “I, like Tina Jordan, feel certain Jasper County is going to get approved. I just can’t tell you when.”
Board Attorney Ricky Ruffin explained during the meeting that the lack of Jasper County being named to date in the federal disaster proclamation does pose an extreme problem for the county with the expense of mass debris removal. Although the county has not been declared for federal relief, he pointed out that the county has to start making plans for the future cleanup.
“We are going to employ Clarke and Associates today as a 30-day monitor. We are going to take that chance because we need to start getting some stuff in line and need to start getting contractors lined up. But, we cannot sign a contract with a debris removal company until we get approved,” he said. “When we sign that contract, we are obligated. If we don’t get disaster relief, Jasper County cannot afford to pay.”
It is estimated approximately 200,000 cubic yards of debris has to be removed from Jasper County. Ruffin and several others at the meeting suspect it would cost an estimated $2 million to $6 million to have the debris left by the tornadoes removed.
Private citizen federal relief was also discussed. Tullos mentioned that Jordan explained many factors go in to private relief, factors like racial make-up, median income of the area, the number of homes in the devastation area (around 100 homes), and private insurance.
“When the initial reports came out, they had Jasper County at around 72 homes. I think we are up around 85 homes now. It’s going to depend on several factors, and there is no way I can let the citizens know and you all know whether Jasper County will get approved as far as private financial disaster relief,” he explained to the board.
Tullos said Jefferson Davis County had 340 homes affected by the tornado, Covington County around 300 homes, and Jones County around 240 homes.
Tullos maintained that he would stay in touch with the Governor’s Office and MEMA and would report any new findings to the supervisors.