HOLMES COUNTY – In addition to the massive damage reported in Yazoo County, the EF4 twister that ripped across Central Mississippi Saturday, April 24, plowed heavily through rural Holmes County and other areas as well.
Holmes County Emergency Management Coordinator Gyrome Granderson said Wednesday, April 28, that MEMA’s assessment Tuesday revealed a total of 126 homes damaged by the tornado, of which 61 were destroyed, 11 with major damage, 41 with minor damage, 11 affected, and two uninhabitable.
He said the hardest hit area in Holmes County is the Ebenezer – Newport Road Communities, where one death was confirmed.
Rev. Esley Brown, according to reports, was killed while in his vehicle, headed to do a eulogy at one of the churches that was also damaged.
The Ebenezer community is the home of historic Mississippi statesman former Rep. Robert G. Clark and his son, current Rep. Bryant Clark (D-Attala, Holmes, Yazoo). “We did not suffer any damage where we live. I just have a tree limb that broke,” Bryant Clark said Wednesday, April 18 while on site in affected areas. He said he has called the Governor’s office and asked that Holmes County be added to the state’s national desaster declaration. Clark, House Speaker Billy McCoy, Holmes County Supervisor Larry Dennis, and Charlie Horhn and Steve Gavin both of Congressman Thompson’s Office personally surveyed the Holmes County storm damage Tuesday, April 27.
Sunday, Congressman Thompson did an ariel view of his district, which consists of Attala, Holmes, Yazoo and Warren counties. He told The Mississippi Link that he also visited Holmes County by ground and discovered more damaged than expected. Thompson is saddened by the losses suffered through out the storm impacted area. He’s urges federal assistance.
Also Sunday, county citizens of the area grew concerned that Holmes County was being left out of the equation. “Holmes County really suffered more damage than what the media is presenting,” said Velma Smith of Durant. Rep. Bryant Clark said that he, too had gotten disturbed. “I began calling the television stations early Sunday morning he said and did not get any answers. I guess they don’t come in until after 12.”
The death totals remains at 10, with five deaths from Choctaw County, four in Yazoo County, and one in Holmes County. Release of victims’ identities is at the discretion of each county.
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