It’s been three years since a deadly tornado hit North Mississippi and the town of Holly Springs.
Eleven people were killed, including a seven-year-old boy.
The 2015 tornado that plowed through north Mississippi hit Holly Springs the hardest.
People were killed. They lost their homes, and their belongings.
The first American Red Cross volunteer who stepped up to help says the emotional scars are still healing.
We haven’t talked to American Red Cross volunteer, Alan Stanford, since 2015 when the tornado tore through Holly Springs.
Stanford missed Christmas with his family because he felt he needed to help his community. Stanford’s emotional interview back then, touched just about everyone.
The 2015 tornado didn’t take Stanford’s home, but it affected him in a big way.
“It was my job to help those who came to me at that time and that’s what I tried to do. That really brought this community together,” said Stanford.
Stanford says the devastation brought the Holly Springs community together like he’d never seen before. And people are still healing and rebuilding, three years later.
“If you drive down it now you still see people building on their homes and getting new homes and whatnot. It’s been three years. Doesn’t seem like it,” Stanford said.
The town of Holly Springs has come a long way.
At a glance, things look pretty normal. But people are still rebuilding their homes and their lives.
Alan Stanford still volunteers with the American Red Cross.
He just hopes and prays Holly Springs never has to deal with such devastation again.
