North Mississippi senators pleaded for an improved catastrophe response from the state final week as 1000’s of their constituents nonetheless lacked energy practically three weeks after the January winter storm.
Sen. Rita Potts Parks, a Republican from Corinth, repeatedly informed her colleagues “now we have work to do” to raised put together for future disasters. Her district contains Alcorn and Tippah counties, two of the hardest-hit areas in Mississippi.
“I hope you keep in mind how my individuals had been chilly, and we as a state, we failed them,” she mentioned throughout an emotional speech on the Senate flooring. “I’m included.”
In her district, hospitals and nursing houses went greater than 4 days with out energy or water, Parks mentioned.
“Are you able to think about what these smells had been like, what these cries had been like by that second day?” she mentioned. “And people individuals being positioned with increasingly blankets on them simply to maintain them heat.”
Parks and her colleague Sen. Neil Whaley, a Republican from Potts Camp, talked about the response occasions of particular companies as areas for enchancment.
“Us getting assets from (the Mississippi Emergency Administration Company) took days,” she later informed Mississippi At this time. “I’m not throwing darts, I’m simply saying it was a truth we didn’t see provides coming to us till Tuesday. That’s water, MREs, cots. This occasion occurred on Saturday, Sunday. You’re Tuesday night time, Wednesday getting us what we would have liked.”
She mentioned about 5 or 6 counties went over two days with none energy transmission as a result of Tennessee Valley Authority strains had been down. “That’s historic, that’s by no means presupposed to occur,” Parks mentioned.
She and different senators spoke throughout dialogue of Senate Invoice 2632which handed within the chamber. The invoice, which now heads to the Home for dialogue, would create a “catastrophe restoration emergency mortgage program” to help counties included within the current federal catastrophe declaration.
Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican from Biloxi who launched the invoice, mentioned the state’s damages from Winter Storm Fern will probably attain $400 million. He described the proposed program as a “revolving mortgage fund,” meant to get public help cash to counties and cities on the entrance finish as they await reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Administration Company.
Parks mentioned FEMA funds to native entities might take wherever from 18 months to 2 years. DeLano mentioned Tennessee did one thing comparable in response to Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Whereas the invoice doesn’t embody a greenback quantity, DeLano mentioned the plan is to request $50 million in appropriations later within the session. Counties would have 5 years to repay the loans, and would additionally need to pledge a income within the occasion FEMA didn’t reimburse the funding. For any initiatives that FEMA rejects for reimbursement, native entities would have two years to repay the mortgage.
Sen. Sollie Norwood, a Democrat from Jackson, expressed concern that counties in these conditions could be left on the hook for restoration spending. DeLano responded that lawmakers might use the two-year interval to deal with any such shortfall. The state couldn’t supply the funding as a grant as a result of it might be seen as a duplication of advantages, he added.
Whaley, who spoke after Parks, expressed an identical sentiment.
“I reside in an space the place the district strains of the Mississippi Division of Transportation meet, and for some cause that plow truck blade simply wouldn’t keep on the bottom when it obtained to that district line,” Whaley mentioned.
The senator added that “numerous issues need to be answered,” and that he intends to carry “numerous this out to mild.”
Delano mentioned later: “We’re going to have numerous dialogue over the subsequent yr about how we higher put together for some of these occasions.”
About 1,700 Mississippians nonetheless didn’t have energy as of Thursday afternoon practically three weeks after the storm, in line with poweroutage.us. That quantity, although, doesn’t embody all electrical utilities within the state. Northern District Public Service Commissioner Chris Brown mentioned municipal programs, such because the beleaguered Holly Springs Utility Division, aren’t included. As of Thursday that system nonetheless had about 500 outages.
One other measure, Home Invoice 1645would create state variations of FEMA applications as Mississippi officers put together for lowered federal catastrophe assist. That invoice handed the Home on Thursday and strikes onto the Senate.
Different Federal Assist Kicks in for Recovering Mississippians
On Wednesday, the U.S. Small Enterprise Administration introduced low curiosity loans had been obtainable for sure non-public nonprofits in Alcorn, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Grenada, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Montgomery, Sharkey, Sunflower, Warren, Washington, Webster and Yazoo counties in addition to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Eligible organizations embody, however usually are not restricted to, meals kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, neighborhood facilities, faculties and faculties.
Then on Thursday, the U.S. Division of Housing and City Improvement introduced numerous help measures for Mississippians, together with a 90-day foreclosures pause for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Click on right here for a full checklist of these measures.
This story was initially revealed by Mississippi At this time and distributed by a partnership with The Related Press. Alex Rozier is the creator.
Picture: An icy neighborhood in Oxford on Jan. 26. (AP Picture/Bruce Newman)
Copyright 2026 Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Matters
Windstorm
Mississippi
