With recovery efforts in full swing, Gov. Jeff Colyer made his second stop in Eureka in five days Sunday to get a sense of how tornado cleanup was going.
Colyer says he was impressed with the amount of [progress since Wednesday evening when he saw the damage barely 24 hours after an EF-3 tornado cut through the town. Help from the state, other counties and non-profit agencies will take on a more crucial role, Colyer says, because the Federal Emergency Management Agency likely won’t be sending any reimbursement money to the town.
Colyer’s visit highlighted a productive weekend in Eureka, with power coming back on citywide Friday night, vegetative debris nearly completely removed and a well-attended Multi-Agency Resource Center, or MARC, which gathered close to 20 local, regional, state and federal offices at Marshall Elementary. Anybody who missed the information available at the MARC can go to the Eureka Library starting Monday.
One recovery point that has been slow going has been in restoring certain technology services. Greenwood County Emergency Management Director Levi Vinson says AT&T, the city’s sole provider for landline phones, has been telling customers they may not have service fully restored until July 20. Mediacom, the city’s Internet and TV provider, is also offline to some degree.
AT&T and Mediacom customers who have not had services restored are being told to contact their provider:
*AT&T: 800-331-0500
*Mediacom: 855-633-4226
The community primarily needs monetary donations to help with demolition of damaged homes. The Emporia Community Foundation’s Growing Greenwood Fund and the Eureka Ministerial Alliance are listed a the top two ways to help.
Public Information Officer Robin Wunderlich says volunteers are still needed, but they will need to find their own projects with check-in at the Matt Samuels Community Building now over. Community meals will be served through at least Tuesday.
Photos courtesy Arianna Mock
{gallery}Eureka Tornado Governor Returns July 1 2018{/gallery}
KVOE News ongoing coverage
*Click here for Sunday’s feature on Adrianne Stapleford, who took impressive photos of the Eureka tornado, and the cleanup at her mother Mandi Stapleford’s house
*Click here for Saturday’s report on the injured and the attendance at the Multi-Agency Resource Center
*Click here for Saturday’s story on the return of electric power and a deluge of donations
*Click here for June 29’s update on debris clearing efforts and food/water donations
*Click here for June 28’s update on the number of damaged structures, the ongoing help of Emporia and Lyon County government agencies and the upcoming implementation of the MARC
*Click here for information on the June 27 tour by Gov. Jeff Colyer and the National Weather Service’s preliminary rating
*Click here for June 27s damage assessment by Eureka and Greenwood County officials
*Click here for June 27’s story on how to help the recovery effort
*Click here for June 27’s initial story and photos about the Eureka tornado
