City of Troy makes declaration of emergency amid tornado cleanup

TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — After an EF2 tornado swept through parts of Troy, city leaders were tasked with starting the recovery process.

“We’re looking county-wide, just in the utilities and the governmental entities, almost four millions dollars in damage,” said Mayor Jason Reeves.

Due to such a high price tag, city officials made a Declaration of Emergency. According to Reeves, doing so will help the city and the citizens of Troy pay for cleanup.

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“One of the things we have to do in a situation like this when we are dealing with insurance, FEMA, a lot of other different things, a lot of different contractors, it is important that we don’t have to go through a very lengthy process. When we get an emergency declaration, It gives me the authority on behalf of the city council to make all of those things happen. Whether its cleanup, construction or anything of that nature.

“This declaration also makes a statement to the federal and state government that the city of Troy is in a crisis, and that the governing body of the community believes that we are in a crisis and we are doing everything we can to get out of this crisis.”

Reeves provided TrojanVision with a rundown of the cost of the damage.

$2.8M – City Infrastructure: Troy Parks and Recreation and its athletic fields
$400K – Electric Cooperative spent money in aid to Troy
$700K – Pike County School System building damage and Pike County Commission reimbursement

“Hopefully what we are doing is getting to a position where we can get FEMA reimbursement, so we are hoping to get federal funds through the state that will help us rebuild public infrastructure and things of that nature,” Reeves explained.