On April 13, Vicksburg and Warren County were struck by a rash of severe storms and faced multiple rounds of tornadoes. Three tornadoes, with winds in excess of 115 miles per hours, created havoc and caused damage to homes and businesses in Vicksburg — some of which has yet to be cleaned up and repaired — and in areas throughout the county that are still recovering.

Thursday, the damage caused and the ongoing recovery efforts from those storms in mid-April were declared a federal disaster.

President Donald J. Trump Thursday, declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Mississippi and ordered Federal assistance to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms.

Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms in eight Mississippi counties impacted. Warren County, along with Clarke, Clay, Itawamba, Kemper, Monroe, Oktibbeha and Yazoo counties were part of that declaration.