CNN Newsroom: Interview With Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
Interview
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Well, obviously, Jim, it was devastation beyond imagination. First of all, we had no lights in the entire community. People were absolutely stunned at what had just occurred. And so as the night wore on, it was clear that this was something that people had never seen before, but the bright spot, so far, we've seen people coming from all walks of life wanting to help surrounding communities, surrounding volunteer fire departments, the Cajun Navy is already here.
So you know, but it's a matter of dealing with the immediacy of what has occurred and try to get this very vulnerable community some stability, and it's a challenge to be quite honest with you.
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Well, absolutely. And so, you know, when you talk about temporary shelter, the closest shelter to this community is about 50 miles away.
We don't have a public transportation system in this part of the State, so there are some logistical things that have to be worked out. We are in the process of doing it.
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I've had a conversation with the President today. I've talked with the FEMA Administrator. I've talked with the head of the Red Cross. So all hands are on deck as we address this really tragic situation.
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Well, absolutely. The Governor just submitted the request for a major disaster declaration. The President said the moment he gets it, they will review it, and push it right back out the door.
Based on what you see, and you're showing to your viewers, there is no question that this community cannot come back without significant Federal participation.
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Well, the Police Department is destroyed. City Hall is destroyed. That County Courthouse is damaged. The Fire Department is devastated. There is no grocery store that's operable in the community, so that there are a lot of things that are having to be put in place, just for people to be able to get back.
Again, NAACP, other organizations have stepped up. We have over 300 Red Cross volunteers in Rolling Forks, Mississippi. But other areas, Silver City, Mississippi, another community similar to Rolling Fork, just smaller, they are in a similar situation.
So we're managing it. Our friends will have to help us. I understand that Secretary of Homeland Security will be here in the morning, as well as the FEMA Administrator to get a firsthand viewing of what is occurring, but I'm optimistic. With the proper help, we can come back.
I own a hospital in this community. It is offline right now. So we're having to transport our injured over 50 miles away to the nearest hospital. And so maybe I can get my Governor here in Mississippi to accept the Medicaid expansion dollars that could have gotten us the proper emergency generation for our hospital enrollment for it so that we wouldn't be offline.
So there are a lot of things we have to work through, but I'm convinced that this tragedy is an opportunity to bring this community back better than what you see right now.
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Well, absolutely not. We will probably end up bussing people to adjoining communities that have the capacity, but those communities are about 50 miles away.
So the Red Cross is working to facilitate that. We do have a closed National Guard Armory that has now been put back into service to accommodate the local situation.
But as things happen, you know, we had to bring in a generator so we could power up the facility. One of the local farmers loaned us a tractor to generate it last night, so we could have lights in the facility, because as I've said, we had no lights.
So businesses from other areas have set up feeding tents. They are grilling and distributing water and other things, just helping. So clearly, everybody was doing what they can, but it will be a long-term recovery effort for this community and others that are impacted.
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Well, thanks so much, Jim.
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