VILONIA - Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and former President Bill Clinton visited storm survivors Sunday, one week after an EF4 tornado cut a deadly swath through central Arkansas.
Accompanied by American Red Cross President Gail McGovern, Gov. Mike Beebe and a number of other elected officials, they stopped in Mayflower to view the damage, then headed to Vilonia to see the destruction there.
At a news conference on Vilonia’s Main Street near piles of rubble, they discussed the scale of the devastation and the rebuilding task ahead.
They also discussed how to keep city government functioning if tax revenue plummets.
“This has been a terrible blow,” Clinton said.
In the two hardest-hit towns, “a great deal of their tax base has been destroyed for some time to come and there are environmental as well as financial issues in getting rid of all this rubble. And you’ve got to get rid of the rubble before you can start rebuilding,” the former president said.
Clinton praised those who are cleaning up the debris but said plenty of work remains.
“A lot of you, I think, have helped them to collect it, to organize it. It’s astonishing to me how much work’s been done in a week and you can all be very proud of it, but now you’ve got to get it out of there so that people can begin again.”
Clinton said he wants to assist with recovery efforts, adding: “I hope I can be helpful.”
In the meantime, federal aid is already flowing.
Standing at a lectern in front of what used to be the Cock-A-Doodle Dough restaurant, Johnson announced that his agency had helped 632 individuals apply for disaster relief and that more than $844,000 had already been awarded.
“My message here today is your federal government is here to help you and we will be here till the job is done,” Johnson said.
Johnson was the latest federal official to stop by. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate departed for Arkansas last week within hours of the disaster; President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Wednesday.
The storm killed at least eight people in Vilonia, population 3,815. Without the new tornado storm shelter at Vilonia High School, funded in part by a $1 million FEMA grant, the toll would’ve been higher, Mayor James Firestone said.
Last week’s death and destruction made national headlines, but the area will need help long after the news crews depart, officials said.
“As some people told me earlier today down in Mayflower, it’s important that after all of the initial rush is over with, that we don’t forget about them,” Beebe said. “There are going to be a lot of people suffering for a long, long time and all of us need to continue to keep [disaster recovery] as a high priority and be able to work together.”
Beebe noted that Johnson’s department oversees FEMA and praised the federal disaster response.
“The FEMA folks have been outstanding,” Beebe said, noting that it took less than 24 hours to get a disaster declaration issued.
“We work fast,” Johnson replied, adding: “We need to.”
While the VIPs addressed the cameras, residents and disaster volunteers gathered to listen. Generators hummed, but not loud enough to drown out the sound of an American flag flapping in the breeze.
Out of camera range, a stack of the Cock-A-Doodle Dough’s menus littered the ground; pizza boxes, black aprons and condiment packets were strewn about - the building itself had seemingly disintegrated.
Faulkner County Judge Alan Dodson noted that the trail of destruction didn’t end at the Vilonia city limits. “There’s 24miles of it,” he said. “There’s lots of people to pray for.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, a Little Rock Republican, said Sunday’s visit by Johnson “sends a signal to everybody in the federal government that this [disaster] is a priority. … That attention and that effort focused on this area, that means a lot. This is an important deal.”
The visits by Johnson, Fu ga t e a n d Obama underscore that storm recovery is high on the agenda, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, a Little Rock Democrat, said afterward.
“I think it really speaks to this being a storm of national importance. It’s a national tragedy … but it also shows that the federal government is here for people to help people and help these communities rebuild,” Pryor said.
While praising the people of Vilonia and Mayflower, speakers aimed criticism at Exxon Mobil.
The company’s Pegasus pipeline ruptured last year, releasing an estimated 210,000 gallons of heavy crude oil and contaminating a Mayflower neighborhood. The company subsequently offered to buy 22 homes that were affected.
Saturday, Exxon Mobil announced that it would earmark $250,000 for the storm survivors, with $125,000 going to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and the rest goingto the Arkansas Community Foundation.
Beebe said Exxon Mobil officials had asked him how they could help, and he’d urged them to provide aid directly to the cities of Mayflower and Vilonia to help keep police, fire and sewer services going. “They promptly ignored my advice,” Beebe said.
Describing himself as “real disappointed,” Beebe said: “I told them I wasn’t talking to them anymore.”
Griffin, the 2nd District congressman, said he’d urged Exxon Mobil to allow its vacant Mayflower homes to be used as temporary shelters for storm victims.
Aaron Stryk, an Exxon Mobil spokesman, said the company is donating money, water, fuel and storage space in its warehouses for donated goods.
“We’re doing what we can to help out and we will continue to provide assistance where needed,” Stryk said. “As far as the temporary housing, all I can say at this time is that we’re aware of the request and we’re currently evaluating options.”
Sunday, while the elected officials and aid workers made the rounds, 24-year-old Mathey Jones stood in the shade beside Keith’s Service Center, a stone’s throw from the television cameras, and said he was glad that the visitors were stopping by.
In a town where 85 percent of the stores and shops have been damaged or destroyed, “It would be good for business. But there’s not any business here.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 05/05/2014