Paige El-tayech trekked across her icy yard in Corinth with her husband, Dee, during the early hours of Jan. 24. The couple took pictures of the havoc caused by Winter Storm Fern – proof they hope will come in handy when or if direct recovery assistance becomes available.

Limbs littered the yard. The family’s yellow and blue swing set was covered by a split tree that could no longer bear the weight of its frozen branches. The weatherproof cap that connects electric lines to their house was disconnected from the meter box. Another tree damaged their roof, causing leaks inside.

Nearly two weeks later, the El-tayech home, like many across north Mississippi, still lacks electricity. Alcorn County Electric Power – known by locals as ACE – urged its customers to call and report any downed power lines. However, Dee El-tayech says he’s been waiting for days to hear back from the company about his initial report.

“I can’t even begin to get the house fixed until ACE comes down and cuts the line,” Dee El-tayech said.

He said the family has received no information about where or how to submit photos of the damage.

This is the ongoing story for many residents of northern Mississippi in the wake of Winter Storm Fern, which struck the state the weekend of Jan. 24-25, causing at least 180,000 power outages at its peak. On Thursday,  at least 22,000 Mississippians remained without power according to poweroutage.us. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency confirmed Wednesday the storm has resulted in at least 28 deaths in the state.

 The federal government has offered assistance to the state in the form of  food, water and safety supplies, plus $3.75 million to reimburse the state for its emergency response. But it’s not clear when the federal government might make direct assistance available to people for expenses such as for home repairs or help paying bills. 

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves included individual assistance, as well as disaster unemployment money, in his Major Disaster Declaration request Tuesday. Mississippi’s congressional delegation wrote President Donald Trump a letter Wednesday seeking approval for a disaster declaration.

The request includes individual aid for residents of 36 counties and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. As more damage is discovered, Reeves’ request may be amended to include additional counties. 

MEMA Director of External Affairs Scott Simmons told Mississippi Today that the agency doesn’t know how long it could take to see assistance in the hands of Mississippians. 

“There is no set clock. We are simply presenting our evidence and waiting for them to ask questions and consider the application,” Simmons said.

Mississippi Today spoke with over a dozen people across north Mississippi about their experiences in the aftermath of the ice storm.

Amy Yurchak, Corinth, Alcorn County

After several days without power, Amy Yurchak and her husband Aaron traveled 59 miles to Florence, Alabama, the Tuesday after the weekend storm hit. They braved ice-covered roads to buy a generator at Lowe’s.

After six days, the generator suddenly stopped, leaving the Yurchak family without power again. The home improvement retailer denied the family a refund because it had been more than 48 hours since the purchase date. Yurchak said she had to drain her family’s bank account to pay for needed supplies, including the generator. Her voice trembled over the phone as she spoke.

“I’ve spent my mortgage money I was supposed to pay this month,” Yurchak said.

Matthew Cannon, Tishomingo, Tishomingo County

Matthew Cannon, his wife Corey and their children have gone without power for at least 10 days in their Tishomingo home. Cannon, who is a certified nursing assistant at North Mississippi Medical in Iuka, was initially stuck at the hospital for five days, including during the storm, before he could return home. While the hospital had a backup generator, it does not power heat or the hospital’s ambulance gate.

“Right before they were going to just drive through it and possibly damage one of their ambulances, one of the EMTs happened to have a chainsaw and was able to cut the barrier down,” Cannon said. “There was a day when we couldn’t get any water. We couldn’t flush toilets. We would just have to put all the patients’ and staffs’ waste in bags and put them in the biohazard stuff.”

Karen Carpenter, Biggersville, Alcorn County

Karen Carpenter is the sole caregiver for her nonverbal husband Larry, who had a stroke in 2019 that caused paralysis in the right side of his body. The elderly couple, like others, had access to a generator, but could not get it started.

Carpenter attempted to call the Biggersville Fire Department for help operating the generator. She said she never received a call back. The couple eventually had to flee to Tupelo to find  heat and food.

“I just don’t feel that we got recognized by our governor for the resources that we really, really needed, and I don’t feel that there was anything put in place that should have been put in place before this storm,” Carpenter said. “You know, there was a lot of mixed information about, ‘It’s gonna be bad, but it’s not gonna be that bad.’”

Shana Bates, Corinth, Alcorn County

Shana Bates and her two children were impacted by the initial weekend storm, losing power in their townhouse around 4 a.m. Jan 24. After several days without power and having to cook food with their kerosene heater, the family found shelter with her children’s babysitter while they await updates on when power will be restored. 

Several of the building’s meter boxes were torn off, and Bates said the power company could not make repairs until the landlord removes the damaged property.

“I had tons of meat and stuff in my freezer that it’s going to waste. 
Not only is rent and bills due at the beginning of the month, now I’ve got to replace everything,” Bates said. “I don’t get any  government assistance. I get no food stamps. I don’t get housing. I pay everything out of my pocket, and now I have to figure out how I’m going to afford  groceries for my children when I can go home.”

State and federal storm response

The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously voted to provide $20 million to fund MEMA’s storm response and recovery efforts, but that plan does not involve direct financial support to residents. The spending would also need approval of the House and the governor, and it’s not clear whether House leaders will endorse it.

According to The Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mississippi worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA days before the storm, which helped to expedite the delivery of resources to the state.

DHS fulfilled the state’s request for 90 generators to power critical facilities in addition to supplying the state with 49 trailers of meals, water, tarps, oxygen canisters and blankets. Additional supplies have been stored at a support base in Columbus.

Reeves mobilized an initial 500 Mississippi National Guard troops Jan. 26 to assist communities with cleanup and traffic control. He has also faced criticism for not deploying the Guard before the storm, as several others governors did. 

Despite the efforts, many Mississippians feel they’ve been overlooked by the government – that private community members did more to help than state and local officials.

“If it weren’t for local businesses, we would of had a lot more deaths here,” Corey Cannon said. “I truly believe that.”