Nearly six months have passed since an EF-4 tornado descended on the small town of Rolling Fork, Miss. It ravaged the downtown on the night of March 24 and took the lives of 14 residents. The storm system left 22 Mississippians dead statewide.
Mayor Eldridge Walker believes his town will “build back better.”
“Rolling Fork, Mississippi, is a resilient community, and I see bigger and better things here,” Walker said. “It’s gonna take time, maybe 10 years down the road, before you can actually see the full impact of the rebuild, but I’m hard-headed enough to know and believe that it’s going to happen.”
In Rolling Fork, the remnants of destruction are evident everywhere you look: sheet metal glimmers in the tree lines, embedded deep within the wood; empty concrete lots lay where homes used to stand; garbage, electronic appliances and destroyed memories pile up on the curb in front of too many houses to count.
Beyond the residential areas of the city, downtown Rolling Fork was among the areas hit hardest by the tornado. Many businesses have closed their doors with no word on whether they will reopen, and the financial future of the town is murky.
“A city depends upon businesses for taxes. If we don’t have the taxes then that impacts our finances with the city,” Walker said. “So our businesses that have sustained damage, that cannot operate, that has had a major impact on our tax base.”
In spite of the tremendous challenges his community is facing, Walker has seen his constituents unite in a time of crisis.
“What the storm and the rebuild has done as far as I see is bringing the community together. Everybody is sitting down at the table and giving their input on where we need to go to build back Rolling Fork, Mississippi, and that’s a good thing.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been working in the town since the tornado hit, providing shelter and meals to families affected by the disaster, with aid totalling more than $32.2 million dollars.
A release from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency indicates FEMA is sheltering 143 victims of the tornado, a total of 58 families. The American Red Cross also provides food for survivors and has served more than 94,000 meals for those staying in shelters.
FEMA is also housing 45 families in mobile homes, with more structures on the way for survivors, and has helped remove nearly two million cubic yards of debris across Mississippi.
The morning after the tornado touched ground, The Daily Mississippian sent reporters to Rolling Fork to document the aftermath.
Jeanette Dorsey was interviewed among the debris of her destroyed home. Six months later, standing in front of her house as construction workers weaved in and out, she believes that God has kept her family safe.
“Last time that we were here (conducting an interview) on March 25, we were standing right there (in front of her home) talking. Our hearts were saddened,” Dorsey said. “God took all of my material things. My house went down, the inside was destroyed, but he left us.”
Dorsey’s house was insured, and the insurance money has gone into renovating and expanding her home.
“We had to go through the fire, but God kept us. My house was smaller. But look what God done,” Dorsey said. “I’m just so thankful and grateful for everything. Rolling Fork is building back.”
Dorsey chose to be part of that rebuilding effort because Rolling Fork is her home.
“My mom is 82 years old. All my mom has ever known is Rolling Fork. Why would we uproot? True, I could have taken my insurance money and bought a house somewhere else,” Dorsey said, “but we love Rolling Fork.”
At the time that The Daily Mississippian first spoke with Dorsey, her 82-year-old mother, Emma Jean Dorsey, was receiving treatment for a broken leg sustained during the tornado.
“She’s doing so much better. She’s out of the hospital. She had all of her physical therapy. Now, she’s at my brother’s as well. We’re all back in Rolling Fork,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey and her family are staying with her brother at his home in Rolling Fork while her home undergoes construction.
“Thank God that I have my family, that we have family that we can reach out to. Just knowing that it’s all God, so I just thank God for the help that everyone has given us,” Dorsey said. “Thank God for all of the people that have been coming in and sharing and caring and giving donations and gift cards. It has been a blessing.”
Dorsey has faced numerous challenges since her home and vehicle were destroyed in the tornado, including the loss of her job as a teacher at the local elementary school.
“I’m retired. I didn’t prepare to retire. It just came up on me,” Dorsey said. “I came to realize that I have plans, but it’s not God’s plan, so sometimes you’re trying to just open that door, and God is closing that door, but you’re just trying to make it come open. I realized that I shouldn’t make myself sick about it and just leave it to God.”
Dorsey spoke about how her family has processed the disaster and the lingering anxieties and fears they deal with when a storm approaches.
“We don’t know what may happen. We made a joke about it, ‘If another tornado comes, let it hit somewhere else, not in Rolling Fork.’ No one knew that an EF-4 tornado was coming. It just happened,” Dorsey said. “It would be wrong to say that I don’t get a little nervous, a little fearful (about another tornado hitting Rolling Fork), but that’s the reason why I ask God to guide me, to give me peace,” she said.
Ultimately, Dorsey feels hopeful for the future and wants to see her neighbors rebuild along with her.
“I hope to see people come back to their town. Support your town, support your home,” Dorsey said. “This town is gonna make it. We’re gonna be alright.”
