President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced on social media the approval of $11 million for recovery from tornadoes and severe weather that hit south Mississippi on May 6 and 7. The news came in response to Gov. Tate Reeves’ request on May 19 for a federal disaster declaration.
The storms destroyed 88 homes, damaged 425 others, and injured 26 people in Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence, Lincoln and Wilkinson counties. The National Weather Service reported seven tornadoes hit the state on May 6. One, an EF3, stretched over a mile wide at one point and remained on the ground for nearly 70 miles.
Just halfway through 2026, the year has already delivered several bouts of destructive weather to Mississippi. Tuesday’s announcement marks the second major disaster declaration the state has received this year after Winter Storm Fern in January.
Logan Branch eats a hotdog as he sits among the debris of what is left of his home at Gene’s Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Then, less than two weeks ago, flooding and severe weather from Tropical Storm Arthur damaged 565 homes, Reeves announced in an update Monday. Totals from that storm now include 150 destroyed homes and 152 with major damage.
Major disaster declarations are reserved for large events where damages exceed a state’s response capacity. Neither the Federal Emergency Management Agency nor the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency had announced the declaration as of Wednesday afternoon. MEMA told Mississippi Today it was still waiting for details on what kind of assistance would be available to affected areas. Reeves requested funding through both the Public and Individual Assistance programs.
Shortly after the governor’s request, all six members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation echoed the call to support struggling local governments dealing with the tornadoes’ aftermath.
