Federal Dollars Expected For Storm Relief, Insured Losses Estimated Over $50 Million

Via the Clarion Ledger:

Insurance chief: Mississippi storm damage 'well north of $50M'

State expects to receive some federal relief

Damage from Saturday’s storm is “well north of $50 million (in insured losses),” Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said today.

An exact monetary damage amount hasn’t yet been tallied.

“I think we’re going to get some type of (federal) relief,” he said Tuesday, noting Gov. Haley Barbour and others have been updating federal government officials on the severity of the damage.

The scope of the devastation, caused mainly by an EF4 tornado was still unfolding Tuesday.

Chaney said his office is still assessing the damage the storm did to commercial buildings and other non-residential properties and compiling a definitive number of homes destroyed around the state.

He says at least 700 homes statewide were damaged in Saturday’s storms. In Yazoo County alone, at least 150 homes are unhabitable, and an additional 67 suffered major damage, Chaney said.