MAYFIELD, Ky. — It’s been two years since a massive EF-4 tornado ripped across Western Kentucky. Mayfield was one of the hardest hit towns, losing dozens of people and hundreds of businesses, churches, and homes.
Now, years later, the town is making progress to return to the vibrant small community they were before the storm. But for some, a lack of housing, funding and new development has made progress feel slow.
"We want to get our hometown back. It will never be like it was but I think it can be much better than it was,” Mayfield Mayor Kathy O’Nan said.
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'New Hope'
Just ten minutes from downtown Mayfield, a brand-new subdivision, aptly named "New Hope Acres", is being built from the ground up. Every home is assigned to a family who lost theirs in the storm and the design is intentional, with a storm shelter built into the blueprint.
"It is the bathroom, the central bathroom. The walls and the floor and ceiling are concrete and the door is 300 pounds,’ O’Nan described.
The project is a first for Samaritan's Purse. The non-profit committed to building 60 new homes in one neighborhood.
It puts in a dent in the 400 dwellings that were destroyed in the tornado. So far, countywide, 84 homes have been re-built, 48 more are under construction and more than 260 are still needed.
"Nothing happens quickly in local government, state government, and then you throw in the federal government there- it’s a very slow process,” O’Nan said.
In her temporary office, at the end of a strip mall, Mayfield Mayor Kathy O'Nan sits in front of photos painting a picture of the last two years. In one, she walks through her hometown with President Joe Biden. In another, she’s laughing with Governor Andy Beshear.
Most of the pictures come from the first few weeks after tragedy hit her home. Since then, she says time has flown and progress has been steady but at times, slow.
"These people have not given up. They are resilient," O'Nan said. "We're all a little tired of it, but we are resilient, we are not stopping."
Lengthy recovery process
O'Nan said the first year of recovery in Mayfield was all about clean-up, which included demolishing damaged buildings and removing debris. To put it in perspective, city hall was destroyed in the storm, but only cleared six weeks ago.
The process is costly and incredibly slow.
"Nobody comes in and gives you a blueprint, they give you guidance and then it’s up to you and your local leaders, local community," O’Nan said.
That process has included city leaders, established non-profits and new non-profits like Camp Graves.
Office Manager Cassy Bashum explained Camp Graves was ‘born’ out of the disaster, but isn’t going anywhere, even after they town is recovered.
"Camp Graves is a permanent resource,” Bashum said. “The need is huge and constant.”
At its peak, FEMA was working through 4,000 claims from the Western Kentucky Tornadoes. Now, that number is down to about 250. Case managers continue to work with residents to find resources, but sometimes, the help is limited and the resources have run dry.
That’s where groups like Camp Graves come in, a non-profit not limited to serving tornado survivors.
When heavy rainfall caused devastating flooding across Kentucky in July of 2022, 130 households in Graves County were impacted.
"Unfortunately the folks affected by the flood do not have the resources those effected by the tornado did," Bashum explained. "There was no state or federal declaration so there's not the dollars, there's just not the response to the flood that there was to the tornado."
Bashum said there isn't much housing for families across Graves County after both disasters.
"We have people who are living with family, living in their cars, who are just trying to survive,” Bashum said.
At Camp Graves, residents can find more than a roof over their heads. They also get social services and are put on a path toward home ownership.
Many families survived the tornado and so did their house, but two years later, they're finding themselves homeless.
No money to rebuild
Stephen Hendley, who is now living in a tiny home at Camp Graves, explained he lost his home when his landlord was offered a deal he couldn’t pass up.
"Our house was livable [after the tornado]. It had busted windows and storm doors but it was livable. Two years later, we get a 30 day eviction notice put on our door because the Family Dollar Store besides us had been destroyed by the tornado and they could not get their lease back. They offered my landlord a sky-high price and he told us we had to get out.”
Hendley's story isn't unique. Local leaders said rental properties are at an all-time low and many of the resources that were available early on in recovery have since expired.
“Most people have forgotten about the tornado. I believe....there's so much left to be done,” he said. Possibly no one understands the work left to be done more than the Mayor herself.
The city lost four municipal structures in the storm, including city hall, public works, police and the fire department. But she said, right now, the city doesn’t have the money they need to rebuild.
"We were insured, but our insurance like so many others is not going to cover the rebuild because the costs are so astronomical,” O’Nan explained. “The police chief and fire chief and I have many sleepless nights.”
O'Nan said she plans to take a proposal to state lawmakers in this upcoming session, requesting they help cover the costs.
Two years after disaster O’Nan holds on to hope, explaining her town is still strong, in large part, thanks to the generosity of strangers.
"As sure as I'm sitting here face to face with you Shay, I know, that that is what keeps us going, she said. "The prayer and good wishes from all over the commonwealth."
O'Nan said a realistic recovery timeline is ten years. She hopes to break ground on multiple city buildings in 2024 and hopes to spend at least a few months in the new city hall before her second term as mayor comes to an end.
"I have three years left in what is my final term as mayor. I hope I am in a new office for a few months. If it’s 6 months, I'll be surprised," she said.
If you want to help the survivors from the 2021 Western Kentucky Tornadoes, you can still donate through the Team Kentucky website.
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