During an appearance on KARK Channel 4's Capitol View program on Sunday, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. explained how the city dealt with damage caused by the tornado that ravaged parts of Little Rock on March 31.
Scott credited the coordination between local, state and federal government for helping the city manage the aftermath of the tornado.
“I want to give a big shoutout to Gov. [Sarah] Sanders and her work with me throughout this period and time. We’ve been on the phone each and every day focused on how we put the people first. They are our true priority, that's what we are focused on,” he said. “Also very grateful for President Biden for quickly declaring a major disaster declaration.”
According to the White House, a major declaration allows Arkansas to receive grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Last week, Biden amended the declaration to allow for the federal government to pay for 100% of the cost of debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance requested within the first 120 days of when the tornado happened.
Scott said it was also helpful having FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell show up to the state within 48 hours of the tornado hitting the city. The mayor also thanked city workers, nonprofits, churches and businesses who helped during the emergency phase.
Recovery phase
Scott said the city is shifting from the emergency phase of the tornado to the recovery phase.
The mayor said about 3,000 residential, commercial and multi-family structures were damaged from the tornado. Lori Arnold-Ellis, Arkansas Red Cross executive director, told Capitol View the nonprofit has done over 5,000 surveys of damage to homes and has already received almost 900 that already qualify as major damage or destroyed.
She said there will be a long road to recovery since some people were permanently displaced from their homes.
“We don’t just have 900 homes just waiting for people to move into,” Arnold-Ellis said.
Scott shared a similar belief that the process will take time and that patience is needed.
“On a good season and being very aggressive it takes six to nine months to build a home,” he said.
Scott said it was "by the grace of God" that there weren’t any fatalities in Little Rock given the damage caused from the tornado. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado reached an estimated 165 miles per hour at its peak. One person was killed in North Little Rock and four died in Wynne following the March 31 tornado outbreak.
