WREG.com

More than 1,000 volunteers aid small Mississippi town after storm

Roman Brown moves part of a wall out of his way as he looks for a friends medicine in their destroyed home along Seely Drive outside of Hamilton, Miss. after a storm moved through the area on Sunday, April 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Jim Lytle)

HAMILTON, Miss. — More than 1,000 volunteers have registered to aid with tornado recovery in one northeast Mississippi town.

WCBI-TV reports that among volunteer groups assisting with tornado recovery in Hamilton are 15 members of Team Rubicon, a group largely made up of military veterans.

More than 130 structures were damaged when tornadoes hit Monroe County on April 13, part of a 19-tornado outbreak statewide. A 95-year-old man died in Hamilton when a tree toppled onto his mobile home.

The state has opened a volunteer reception center to help organize aid. Rev. Hubert Yates of the National Voluntary Organizations Active In Disaster says volunteers began with local people hours after the twisters struck.

Hamilton resident Debra Lawrence says she’s been impressed by people offering to feed victims, clean property and even wash clothes.