At my website http://repjohnmayo.com I have 50 more pictures that go with this story. Click on photo gallery and then open “Return to Tunica Cut-off”

Return to Tunica Cut Off May 27, 2011

If misery loves company, there will be plenty of both tonight. This is Friday, May 27 and the beginning of Memorial Day weekend for most; heartbreak for others.

Gone from the TV screens is the wall-to-wall reporting of the Great Flood of 2011. Left behind are thousands of people who will now return to their homes to deal with the uncertainty of FEMA Assistance, bank loans, building codes, and living arrangements for many months to come.

I accompanied Commander Weeks of the Tunica Sheriff’s Department, Mr. Bradford, director of Planning for Tunica County, MEMA, FEMA, and DEQ personnel into the “Camps” at the Tunica Cut-off. The pictures I am posting on Facebook and my website http://repjohnmayo .com tell the story without captions. Lacking is the stench of rotting vegetation, dead critters, and the odors of water soaked, mud caked structures.

Mr. Bradford thought he could begin permitting in people this afternoon to begin individual clean-up of homes and other structures. He’s issuing permits to keep out people who are gawkers, interlopers, and possible thieves.

For many, they will see their homes still on stilts but for some with a “condemned” sign, many will have “unsafe” and a very few will be termed “safe”. Mr. Bradford and his crew have been going home-to-home designating the safety levels. “Unsafe” means water got in the home (all but three among 354 structures) and the floor from underneath can clearly be seen sagging. “Condemned” goes to those homes that literally were lifted off their stilts and are flat on the ground, tipped or turned over, or were so badly washed out as to be made unrepairable.

Water still covers some of the roads. The ones that have no water have 3-4 inches of mud. The current is moving towards the River as fast as it came in two weeks ago. By Memorial Day, all the water should be off the roads.

One can easily see there will be many future problems. To begin real clean up, water will have to be turned on and that may yet be several weeks away. Two of the three camps have access to a central collection system and I was told that would have to be checked out and that won’t happen until the water is on.

Other homes have substandard sewage collection—55 gallon drums—and if they have to rebuild back, those systems won’t do. They don’t do now, but there would be no need to inspect unless the house was rebuilt.

My understanding, and this is not gospel, when the county adopted flood plain codes in 1998, current structures were allowed to be “grandfathered”. If the home is more than 50% damaged, I understand they will have to meet current flood plain building heights. For many, that will mean raising their homes several (as in 3-6 feet) more. That alone will cause elicit a lot of complaints.

To give you the scope of what the county will be dealing with, at the Tunica-cut off there are 354 structures. Of those, six are businesses and 348 are homes. Of the 348, 224 are permanent homes for many fixed income men, women, and families. Thirty-two or so had flood insurance.

There are options. None are good. If the county were to choose to NOT enforce the flood plain height requirements, no person living in the county would be eligible to buy flood insurance, even if they wanted. AND, if another disaster came, the county would not be eligible for FEMA disaster relief.

Most of the pictures I am posting are self-explanatory. Trash, mud, stench you won’t see, misery. But take note of the propane tanks and cockeyed structures. Building codes require tanks to be anchored in some way so as not to float away. And, homes on stilts need to be periodically checked to assure they are firmly connected.

There will be three very lucky people out of 354 who will return to a dry home this weekend.

While you party with your family this weekend, remember those folks at the cut off, Smithville, Tuscaloosa, Joplin, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas.

I post all of these pictures to members of the legislature. I am sure they will do what is right by these folks in Mississippi the next session.

I asked FEMA for the following information on applicants they had gotten as of today.

1. As discuss today here are a couple quick facts on Coahoma and Tunica Counties.

Coahoma County (DR 1972)
Applicants for Federal Aid: 485
Housing Assistance Eligible: 81

Coahoma County (DR 1983)
Applicants for Federal Aid: 121
Housing Assistance Eligible: 32

Tunica County (DR 1972)
Applicants for Federal Aid: 391
Housing Assistance Eligible: 40

Tunica County (DR 1983)
Applicants for Federal Aid: 331
Housing Assistance Eligible: 172