EF-3 destroys eight homes, damages dozens in Mountain View

The Mountain View City Council held a special meeting on Friday, May 31 to discuss the state of the city and give updates after the tornadoes that struck the area Memorial Day weekend. During the meeting, topics discussed included the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) disaster assessment, debris removal and street clean-up, and the opening of the city pool. Alderman David Bauer was the only member absent from the meeting.

 

Mayor Charry McCann opened the special meeting with a descriptor of what these special meetings will cover and why. She said one of the main reasons was so that city employees that were required to be at these meetings could do so during business hours. McCann discussed the tornado. The National Weather Service determined that the tornado that struck Mountain View was an EF-3. The mayor thanked the city, county, and state personnel and the many volunteers who came to help. She noted that, for safety reasons, volunteers were turned away after dark so that downed power lines could be repaired. She also noted that Kent Edge, Region G Coordinator with SEMA, was present to answer questions with the council. 

 

Mayor McCann read a damage assessment summary. One person was injured, hospitalized, and evacuated. For property damage, six stick-built homes were destroyed -- five had major damage, and sixteen family homes had minor damage. Two mobile homes were destroyed, four with major damage, and two with minor damage. One business had major damage, and it was insured. A total estimate for debris removal, water services that were uprooted, storage and fence repair, electrical service damage, debris clean-up and repairs for the city's public properties of $120,136. 

 

Edge was acknowledged by the mayor and spoke to the council. He said, “At this point, we are in a process of trying and get a federal declaration. There's two types of declarations. There is an individual declaration, which is for individual homeowners, and there is a public declaration which is for city and county municipalities.”

 

On June 3, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representative and a Small Business Association (SBA) representative was scheduled to come to Howell County to do their federal damage assessment, according to Edge. This would be required to go through state and federal agencies until it reaches President Joe Biden's desk for final approval. Edge stressed that everyone who needs to do repairs to keep their receipts and document everything, but make the repairs that you need to do.

 

It was noted that the city brush dump is open 9 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday for any natural waste such as sticks, grass, leaves, logs, and stumps, and is free of charge. To reach the city brush dump, go east on East James Street, continue on County Road 3100 to County Road 2100 and it will be on the right.

 

Despite the storm damage, the mayor announced the city pool opened over the weekend. On Saturday, the pool held a free swim from 1 to 5 pm for anyone under age 18. The mayor did note that there are some trees down in the area near the pool but those are planned to be cleaned up. The Mountain View City Pool will be open Monday through Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm and on Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm.