Fatal Consequences of Tornado Shelter Shortage in Mississippi Delta

The tornado that hit Rolling Fork, Mississippi, left many families living in mobile homes with no safe place to go. There is no public tornado shelter in Sharkey County, where about a quarter of residences are mobile homes. Only six counties in the 15 surrounding Sharkey County have at least one shelter built to FEMA's guidelines. Tornado shelters can cost millions of dollars to build, which puts them out of reach of the Mississippi Delta’s poorest communities. FEMA has spent more than $158.5 million on 98 community safe rooms in 44 of Mississippi’s 82 counties since 2008.