1 year ago: Life after 23 tornadoes

LOUISVILLE – Eddie Pippin remembers the date April 28, 2014, this way: It was the day the devil visited his neighborhood.

"Well really, the devil come through here and just tore us apart," he said. "We barely did get out of there, because we were up under the old house. That blowed away from us and we were in it, so it just took everything from us," Pippin said last week while sitting on the porch of a new home built with FEMA money.

One year ago today, Pippin's devil — 23 tornadoes — roared through Mississippi. Fourteen people were killed. Estimates of insured damage losses reached $207 million.

Pippin remembers the tornado ripping through the neighborhood and how he was sure that was the end of it all.

"I had my old lady and the grandkids in there, and I knew it was all over. I had lived my life, so I was worried about them," he said. "But the Lord blessed all of us."

Pippin lived across the street from Dora Triplett.

On Eiland Avenue, an American flag hangs on a light pole in front of a slab. In the home that once stood there, Dora Triplett died saving her grandson, D'Angelo.

Her son, Bobby Triplett, said last year that he hoped to rebuild, but as of late April, it's still just a slab.

Hargie Hughes, 78, lives down the road.

"When I came in that evening, there weren't no children in the streets, nobody on the porch. It made me wonder, 'What's going on?' So I sat out on that porch there like I generally do. I said, 'Hargie, it's a storm on the way,' " he said.

His home, new when he moved in 44 years ago, was damaged. Remodeling after the storm, he said, has made it better than before.

"Only thing I can tell anybody is that he said, 'I'll be your shelter in the storms,' and he was with me. I didn't get no scratch on me, so I thank God for it," he said. "I got my home, it was already paid for. I got it remodeled and still don't owe nothing on it, so that's a blessing, too."

Stevie Haynes lives a few houses down from Hughes, and his house was ripped off the slab. Thanks to a friend of his mother's, their home was rebuilt in five months. Haynes said people always ask him why he would return.

"I don't need to try to run and everything, because it's going to happen anyway. If it hit one place, it's going to hit another place, so we might as well just stay here," he said. "Don't try to run from it because God's going to allow the things to come through here no matter what."

Across from Haynes' house lives Daphne Johnson. The entire back side of her home was blown away. The family of five was scattered during the rebuilding process.

"It's hard, it's hard. You have to find somewhere to stay, then your family is separated. It's real hard," she said. "But you have to trust in God; he'll make a way for you."

Sen. Giles Ward's home, too, was destroyed. He and his wife have since relocated.

"Without question, it was the most indiscriminate track you could have imagined. It went through what were some of our subdivisions with more modern and expensive homes, and it tore right through the middle of some neighborhoods with older homes that weren't those things," he said. "It hit the industrial park, the cemetery, the medical community."

Buddy King, director of the Winston County Emergency Management Agency, said a group called Winston Strongformed in the aftermath of the tragedy. Today that same group helps the community during local emergencies such as house fires.

Winston Medical Center, destroyed during the storm, has since moved from a temporary facility to a transitional facility.

A $32 million plywood factory had just been built before it was leveled. The $50 million project now will make it the largest plywood factory in the world.

The county has never been more ready for economic development, King said.

"We've got in so many aspects a new community, property to be developed, that people would love to be a part of," he said. "The nature of folks in Winston County just shined throughout this disaster and still shines. They have so much to be proud of here in Winston County."

Ward noted that downtown Louisville was the one part that remained untouched as a unit.

"There's no way to say what if, but I'm certain if it had hit the downtown area then the rebuilding effort wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is now," he said.

Louisville Mayor Will Hill said he's noticed how his community, which had all-to-familiar divides of church, school, neighborhoods and sometimes skin color, has become a family.

"I think for many years, even a couple of generations, Winston County will be known pre-tornado and post-tornado. It's not the tornado that defined us, it's how we responded and the resilience after it that defines us," he said.

TUPELO

In Tupelo, a twister blasted down North Gloster Street. It ripped roofs off houses and business, upturned mighty oaks as carelessly as a child plucking a flower and flattened anything that dared cross its path. Miraculously, no lives were lost, but damage estimates reached into the millions.

A year ago, North Gloster Street was unrecognizable. Landmarks had been snatched from foundations and sent flying.

Today, emerging from the devastation is a sense of renewal. Countless trees still remain toppled but homes have been repaired, businesses have been rebuilt and half a dozen empty lots sit with promise, primed and ready for new growth.

"By and large, everything is moving in the right direction," said Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton.

According to the Tupelo Building Department, 13 commercial buildings and 11 homes were demolished either during or in the aftermath of the tornado. In the year since, eight homes and three commercial buildings have been constructed; and 147 residential homes and 18 commercial buildings have undergone renovation.

Perhaps the largest vacant lot on North Gloster is the spot where Vanelli's used to sit. The Italian restaurant, a Tupelo staple since 1975, was damaged beyond repair. Bulldozers eventually tore down the shell of the restaurant the tornado left behind. Now, what was once a bustling hot spot of activity is an expanse of dirt. However, that may not be the case for long.

Vanelli's owner Voz Vanelli, 62, said he is planning to reopen the iconic restaurant in some form. "Whatever I do around the future with Vanelli's or a Vanelli's concept, it will be done to honor my father's legacy, to honor a life's work in the community and to bring something back to the community that the community wants."

The largest obstacle is location, he said. While the former lot would be nostalgic, Vanelli is looking into other options.

Wherever he decides to build, Vanelli said he hopes to have the restaurant up and running within the next year.

Shelton said Vanelli's determination to rebuild is a familiar one.

"We have seen a full-force community effort in the year that has passed since the tornado to clean up and begin the building process in the city of Tupelo," Shelton said. "The recovery effort is a true public-private partnership. What I think we've done as a community really well is the initial clean-up effort. What sometimes lingers after disasters is the debris, and I think we've done really well on that."

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said the spirit to fight and rebuild is a common denominator among those surviving disasters in Mississippi.

"It's one of those things we saw after Katrina, after Yazoo City, after Smithville, and now you see it after Louisville and even Columbia," he said. "People joke that we're the hospitality state and we're so resilient, but it's true. The proof is in the pudding when you see how communities come together. There's no more black, white, Hispanic — everyone's a Mississippian. Even though it takes a disaster sometimes to bring us together, the spirit is undeniable."

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com, or (601) 961-7236. Follow @TRex21 on Twitter. Contact Sarah Fowler at sfowler@gannett.com. Follow @FowlerSarah on Twitter.

Winston County

· EF-4 Tornado, 185 mph winds

· On the ground for 34 miles starting in Leake, Neshoba, Attala and ending in Winston county.

· Lasted about an hour, 3:51 p.m. to 4:47 p.m.

· 10 deaths

· 450 homes destroyed/major damage.

· 22 businesses destroyed/major damage

· 73 farming buildings destroyed/major damage

Federal Funding for Winston County

• $67.2 million obligated by FEMA for Public Assistance.

Lee County

· EF-3 Tornado, winds up to 165 mph.

· On the ground for 31 miles starting in Lee Co., then hit Itawamba and Prentiss counties.

· Struck at 1:38 p.m.

· One death, 30 injuries.

· 268 homes destroyed/major damage.

· 26 businesses destroyed/major damage

Federal Funding for Lee County

$7.6 million obligated by FEMA for Public Assistance.

• $4.2 million for debris removal.
• $2.7 million public utilities.
• $373,000 for emergency protective measures.
• $148,000 for roads and bridges
• $112,000 for public buildings.
• $4,000 for parks, recreational facilities and other items.