Governor seeks federal aid for storm-hit counties

ADAMSVILLE, Tenn. — Severe weather and tornadoes have raced through the Mid-West and Mid-South for almost a week, starting on Friday, March 31.

In Adamsville, damage could be seen in the aftermath of an EF-3 tornado.

“The people across the road over there, it’s three, three houses down through there demolished. One over there on the hill is tore down. Lady got killed, a house trailer over there,” said Paul Carroll, a tornado survivor in Adamsville. “It’s just a mess, but we can clean it up and start again.”

Carroll has been a resident of Adamsville for more than 20 years. His neighbors took shelter in their bathroom during the tornado.

Once they came out, they found their home and surrounding area was destroyed. They started a slow burn with the remaining walls and have plans to start over.

Carroll shared thanks to the community for coming out to help and to others who came to their aid.

“FEMA has been over here,” Carroll said. “The boy who works for FEMA was over here, and he’s going around checking, see what people need. But we are all right, we can take care of it.”

Gov. Bill Lee has requested an emergency declaration to make federal assistance available to multiple counties including, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, and McNairy counties.

“State and local officials, first responders and volunteers continue to provide critical support to impacted Tennessee communities following significant storm damage,” Lee said. “As Tennessee rebuilds, I am now calling on our federal partners to make resources available to further our severe weather response and recovery across the state.”

“There’s a lot of folks out there that needs help bad. Probably worse than we do,” Carroll said.

Some immediate resources are listed on the state website with resources on shelters, information on hiring contractors, and mental health resources.

At this time, a date has not been released for the expected decision on approving or denying the governor’s request.

The tornado that hit Adamsville began in east Fayette County, went across McNairy and Hardin counties, and continued into Middle Tennessee.

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