Dresden woman still awaits help from WCLTRG

Story by Press Reporter Shannon Taylor

Dresden resident Lillian Mosely has been waiting on help from the Weakley County Long Term Recovery Group (WCLTRG) since the Dec. 10 tornado swept through and caused extensive damage to her home.

 

Mosely said that her roof was damaged really badly, her patio in the back was completely blown away and two sheds were also completely destroyed. “I never saw them again.” She said that her garage was mostly gone, but a tree had uprooted and fell on top of that. She said that she used some of the money to replace the garage but had none left over to repair the rest. Mosley replaced the garage so that she could place all the furniture that was left in her home to avoid further damage of it. She tried calling storage units but said “everywhere you call they were just full.”

 

Mosley said prices have gone up on everything as far as rebuilding and that she just didn’t realize what replacing everything and having things rebuilt was going to cost.

 

Mosley said that someone came by the next morning and tarped the house for her, but her roof has never stopped leaking and it’s been tarped three times since the tornado. She said that the roof, ceiling and sheetrock are damaged so badly that water is leaking into her home and the damage has gotten worse every day since the tornado hit. She stated that the ceiling in her bedroom is falling in. Her home is not livable and she stayed with her daughter for five months and now she is living in her rental property.

 

Mosely said that even though she had a little money coming in from her insurance, it was not enough to fix her home because, she states, they didn’t count it as a total loss. She did state that her insurance company was supposed to come out soon to re-evaluate the damage since the tornado and give Mosely’s adjuster the new information.

 

Mosley said that a lot more damage has happened since the tornado making the conditions even worse than they originally were. She said that she filed with FEMA and was denied. The Red Cross gave her $1,500.00 which Mosely said she used to get by initially right after the tornado hit. She also filed for an SBA loan and spoke with the Recovery Center and had someone from there help her file her paperwork to make sure she got it sent in on time. “I don’t know if I’m going to need it, but if I do, it’s ready and all my paperwork is in. I’m 82 years’ old now and at my age I really, really hate to borrow money.”

 

Mosely said she does have a case manager with WCLTRG and that her case manager is out of Mayfield. She said that her case manager calls and checks on her periodically. Mosley said that her case manager reached out to her and let her know that she was turning her case over to a man named Ethan Freese at the recovery center.

 

Mosley stated that her rental property was also damaged and that the money she has coming in from that has been going to pay for repairs, so she really has no income at this point that can help her at all.

 

Mosley said her home has to be gutted before anything proceeds because of mold and water damage. She said that Sandra Taylor from Be the Village told her that she would provide two-three people to help her with that project. “This is the situation right now. It seems like everything has just been waiting on something else. I’ve been moving things all summer. I go and move what I can little by little.”

 

Mosley said she has hope that things will work out, but right now she’s just waiting and wondering when or if she will be receiving help from WCLTRG. She said that she is fortunate for all the wonderful people in Dresden that came out to volunteer right after the tornado, she’s thankful that Dresden suffered no lives lost and that she’s thankful for Be the Village for helping her with what they could. “Sandra has been such a blessing. I’ve never had to take from anyone my entire life. My husband passed away five years ago and we were never dependent on anyone.”

 

Mosley said her case manager told her that they were going to try to help her, but that she has not been given an amount or any indication that they actually would be helping her. Mosley said she has had her case manager for several months now and that she does call every week to check on her, but that she still has not received any confirmation that she would be receiving any help.