The Mayfield-Graves County Long Term Recovery Group updated community partners Tuesday about ongoing recovery efforts more than two years after the area was hit by a deadly and historic tornado outbreak.
The local recovery organization was established in the aftermath of the December 2021 EF-4 tornado that damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes in the far western Kentucky community with a focus on continuing rebuilding efforts after other groups left the region. Mayfield-Graves County LTRG members highlighted recovery areas such as construction and home repairs, case management, and spiritual and emotional care.
Danelle Slack, the group’s vice president of case management, said there are currently 212 tornado survivors in Graves County working with disaster case managers, but that another 73 people are awaiting assignments.
“It's unbelievable to me that we still have survivors out there that don't know that we're doing this and trying to get them to the finish line,” she said.
Many of the survivors without case managers only contacted the recovery group in recent months to receive aid.
Several volunteer organizations have spent time in the Graves County seat repairing damaged homes and building new ones. To date, organizations have repaired, renovated or built over 100 homes in Mayfield. There are over three dozen homes currently under construction.
Matthew Allen, who became the executive director of the Mayfield-Graves County LTRG in November, said the group is also aiding survivors of another natural disaster that impacted the community. In addition to assisting tornado survivors, the LTRG has also been trying to help those whose homes and properties were damaged in historic flash flooding in July 2023 – when more than 11 inches of rain fell in Mayfield in a 24-hour period, setting a new state record.
Part of the struggle with assisting flash flood survivors, Allen said, is the lack of an emergency declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He also said there have not been many donations aimed at assisting Graves County households impacted by flooding.
“We want to ensure that each of those [flash flood] survivors have the opportunity to recover just the same as the tornado survivors,” Allen said. “However, that recovery process is extensive. And we recognize that we have to have sustained efforts to rebuild and restore the lives of our community members.”
LTRG member Amy Chicoine said the organization knows of 138 households that were impacted by flash floods last summer. Of those, 78 homes reported structural damages and 71 reported a loss of property.
Survivors in Graves County can request recovery assistance at recovermayfieldgraves.com.
