Moss Point tornado damage expected to top $10 million. When will federal aid come?

Moss Point should qualify for federal disaster assistance after a tornado ripped through town Monday because damage has already hit more than $6 million, with assessments a little more than halfway completed.

Jackson County Emergency Manager Earl Etheridge said Wednesday that Moss Point’s threshold for assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency is $4.5 million.

Etheridge estimated damage will exceed $10 million when the assessment is finished.

FEMA assistance can help with temporary housing needs and reconstruction for the insured and under-insured.

State, Jackson County and Moss Point officials held a news conference Wednesday at the Moss Point Fire Department to discuss the city’s recovery.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Moss Point Mayor Billy Knight Sr. and Etheridge gathered around a map after the news conference to look at the tornado’s track. The tornado rampaged across six square miles total.

Etheridge, a former Moss Point resident, pointed out a residential area and said, “A lot of these folks are senior citizens, don’t have insurance, can’t afford insurance.”

Are tornadoes increasing on MS Coast?

The assessment so far shows damage to more than 300 homes and 100 other structures, including churches, schools and businesses. Of the properties assessed, at least 15 homes and Merchants & Marine Bank were destroyed. Six people were injured, but none seriously.

Etheridge noted that destructive tornadoes have been rare on the Coast south of Interstate 10, although one in Moss Point two or three years ago killed a woman.

Etheridge told Hosemann: “We’re seeing, in our minds, an increase in tornadoes along the Mississippi Coast, for whatever reason.”

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