Tornado damage assessments still coming in

A Neosho Daily News article by John Ford has the latest on Newton County tornado damage assessment:

On Tuesday, Gary Roark, director of Newton County emergency management, said after completing initial assessments last week, federal officials said close to 200 homes in the county were either destroyed or so badly damaged they were uninhabitable.
Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said 141 homes were destroyed in the county, with 51 having damage so severe no one could live in them, and another 185 sustaining minor damage. Another 80 homes had some damage incurred as a result of the tornado: shingles missing from roofs, siding peeled off of structures. Meanwhile, nine businesses were listed as having major damage.

But the numbers are low, Roark cautioned.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we will have 175 homes destroyed,” Roark said. “I know the numbers are low, and really all they’re for is to show the president that we have enough damage for a disaster declaration.

“I know some businesses have been destroyed,” he said

.