Families settle into housing
Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow and Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett show tornado victims Savannah Swinney and her two-year-old daughter, Kaylee, a pallet of food and supplies they will be moving into her new temporary housing trailer. Photo by Steve Thornton/For the FCT
This past weekend, five families displaced by the April 27 tornado that tore through Phil Campbell were able to move into temporary housing provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
According to Carol Hector-Harris, a public information officer for FEMA, 11 temporary housing units were delivered to Phil Campbell on May 8 and five of those units were ready to have residents movie into them this past Saturday.
“In addition to the homes, FEMA provides a starter kit with items like dishes, towels, sheets and bedding,” Franklin County Probate Judge Barry Moore said. “The five families were also presented with pallets of donated items that came from the distribution center set up at Clark Pulley. These are the items that came pouring in during the days and weeks after the tornado hit.
“The surrounding communities and communities from far off really came together and collected a lot of items these people are now getting to use,” he added. “It’s great the overwhelming community support is still paying off.”
Boxes of canned food, cereal, toiletries and cleaning supplies were brought from Clark Pulley and carried into the trailers by members of the Franklin County Commission, the Russellville Police Department, the Russellville Fire Department, Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow, Phil Campbell Mayor Jerry Mays and FEMA representatives. Moore said everyone there helping out was glad to see these people finally have a place to stay.
“These people lost everything they had and they have had to rely on shelters, family or friends in order to have a roof over their heads,” Moore said. “Now, they have a place that is theirs for a while until they get their own homes rebuilt.”
Getting the families moved in on Saturday proved challenging with the rainy weather, but many on the scene said the expressions on the faces of the five separate families made all the work worth it.
“When we moved one family in, this lady’s little two-year-old girl looked up at us and said ‘This is my home,’ and smiled real big,” Moore said. “That’s the kind of stuff that gets to you – seeing the pure gratitude of a little child that has a roof over her head now. It was a very exciting and moving experience for us.”
RFD Capt. Steve Thornton said Phil Campbell was one of the first devastated areas in the state to receive temporary housing and this is due in large part to the support of Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow and Sen. Roger Bedford.
“They have been very supportive of us and assisted us at the state level on making sure the things we needed were available to us from the start of the incident,” Thornton said. “They were checking in with us at least daily seeing what we needed.”
FEMA officials said the remaining six trailers should be filled by today and the people allowed to move into the trailers will be able to stay there for up to 18 months. They will have their cases reviewed each month to determine their eligibility for continued FEMA assistance.
