On Feb. 25, Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency for Carroll County and the cities of Carrollton and North Carrollton due to the damage the county sustained during and after the severe thunderstorms of Feb. 20, according to the Proclamation Bryant shared on his Twitter page.
Multiple storm systems came through the area at the time, one spinning off an EF-0 tornado in the Huntsville community of Southeastern Montgomery County. The declaration also included a State of Emergency in Montgomery County.
Carroll County Emergency Management Director Ken Strachan said total damages have risen since the last report given to supervisors. Originally, Strachan said storm damage totaled $880,000. During their Monday morning meeting in Carrollton, however, Strachan said estimates were now between $900,000 and $910,000.
He said now Bryant had requested federal assistance from President Donald Trump, and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials were in Columbus Monday to examine the storm damage and were working their way across the state.
“They’re supposed to come to Carroll County today, and I’m going to give them a tour of each of the sites,” Strachan said. He said he’s also received feedback from Congressman Bennie Thompson and Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, who are standing together to get funding for Carroll County.
“At this stage, the more we can lobby the more we can get,” Strachan said. “So, we’re just trying to cause a racket.”
He said he’ll have another report next week after FEMA finishes seeing all of the sites.
The board also:
*Approved advertising requests for bids on County Roads 60, 123, 143, 325 and 286 and Barnes Avenue in Carrollton to request bids for repairs. Shane Correro with Willis Engineering said Supervisor Dill Tucker has elected to use “county force,” meaning he would do the work for himself for two roads in his district that received storm damage, as well.
*Heard from Chester Robinson Jr. who said he couldn’t get a tag because his father, Chester Robinson, Sr.’s old garbage bill was connected to his. Robinson said he’s never lived with his dad and didn’t know why the garbage bill was attached to his. The board decided to release Robinson Jr.’s tag to him and placed a hold on Robinson Sr.’s tag.
*Approved garbage bill adjustments from January through March.
*Renewed their contract with Terminix for termite and pest control. The board decided to reject two other bids for pest control from Stark and Nu-Era. They agreed that they are happy with the service that Terminix has provided.
*Approved a permanent transfer of $200,000 from the General Fund to the E911 Fund.
