State leaders tour tornado damage, discuss ways to help with disaster relief efforts

Rep. Prince Chestnut on Saturday toured the aftermath of the Jan. 12 tornado that struck a large portion of Selma with other state representatives, including Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, Patrick Sellers of Jefferson County, Ontario Tillman of Bessemer and Kelvin Lawrence of Lowndes County.

The representatives looked at ways to help the area with disaster relief funding that they will announce at a later time.

Chestnut said Speaker Ledbetter started his day in Coosa County, then he toured Autauga County before coming to Selma. Chestnut reported that he described the damage to Ledbetter by saying “it looks like the aftermath of the bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end WWII.”

After touring all of the hard-hit areas of Selma, Chestnut said, “The speaker said to me you weren’t kidding. It looks just like someone dropped a bomb on this place.” Chestnut added, “One of the things he told me was that he has never seen this type of devastation after a storm.” 

He said the reason for the visit was to get a first-hand look at the damage and “try to come up with ways the state can help with the relief effort.” He said that most of the help will be from the federal government but “there’s some that we can neatly fit into state issues so we are looking to try and craft something so we can help.” 

Chestnut thanked the Speaker and the other state representatives who took time to come see and support Selma's disaster relief efforts.

“They could have just done what they normally do, just looking out for their own specific constituents, but they came down here. I’m thankful that I have such a good working relationship with them that they are concerned for the people I represent.”