Mayor of Mayfield, KY tours Louisville, MS for tornado recovery efforts

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WLBT) - You might remember the devastating tornado that split the town of Louisville in half in 2014. Nine years later, the town is still recovering. However, that recovery has captured the attention of the mayor of Mayfield, Kentucky, a town also destroyed by a tornado in 2021.

Mayfield’s mayor meeting with the mayor of Louisville for guidance on how to recover.

“EF4 tornado not only taking lives and many injuries, countless property loss, but we’re still here, and we’re going to persevere,” said Mayor Will Hill.

Nine years since the mayor of Louisville said those words to residents and media after a tornado ripped the city in half, disrupting hundreds of Mississippi lives. Fast forward seven years to 2021, the same size tornado struck the town of Mayfield, Kentucky, causing similar damage.

“That tornado ripped right through the center of our town, and it took two large residential areas. [It] took every city and county municipal building,” said Mayor Kathy O’Nan.

Today, Mayor Hill and Mayor O’Nan toured Louisville to see what almost a decade of recovery looks like.

“We started the day with the western medical center recapping the history and the progress made,” Mayor O’Nan said. “We toured the path of the tornado on the north side. It’s just been really profound in this recent visit is how our community was seeking hope.”

Mayor O’Nan says after speaking with city leaders and those vital to Louisville’s recovery, she’s seeing what financial steps to take.

“There are sources of funding that I wasn’t really aware of,” Mayor O’Nan said. “We have a consulting firm that is helping us, and I’m sure that they are in tune with all of this.”

“I’ve been so encouraged talking with the long-term recovery in the plans for the city. We’re on the right track. You don’t know that because you’ve never done this before,” said Mayor O’Nan.

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