By Tuesday night, the number of Amherst County homes identified as having tornado-related damage as a result of Sunday’s tornado had risen from 102 to 146, and crews had yet to finish assessing the damage.
Speaking at a public meeting Tuesday evening at Elon Baptist Church, Amherst County Public Safety Director Gary Roakes said of the 146 homes, 22 now are considered a total loss.
Officials expect those numbers to rise as site assessments continue throughout the week.
Going into Tuesday night, approximately 2,300 Amherst County residents remained without power, according to Roakes.
Roakes took time Tuesday to thank outside agencies that have come to assist the county.
“We could not have done this alone,” he said.
Early assessments in Amherst have the damage costs at $3.6 million, with more assessments to be done. Jeff Stern, Virginia coordinator of emergency management, said Virginia as a whole suffered $7.5 million in damages based on preliminary estimates.
Amherst County Public Schools remains closed today, and students are volunteering with cleanup efforts.
Speaking in Amherst on Tuesday morning, Stern said federal workers from the Small Business Administration would be joining in damage assessment efforts to see if Central Virginia localities affected by the tornado qualify for people and small businesses to apply for disaster loans. That work will take a while longer, but Stern said after the conference he believes its “fairly likely” Amherst County and Lynchburg will qualify, based on his experience.
“When the Small Business Administration does offer those disaster loans, if the area qualifies, they’ll come in, they’ll communicate that to the community,” he said. “... Those loans are available, again, both to businesses and to private citizens, and I believe they’re low- or no-interest loans up to a certain amount.”
A large part of aid, Stern said, will come from volunteer disaster-oriented aid groups like the Red Cross.
Six people were injured in Amherst County from the tornado, and two suffered injuries in the Lynchburg area, he said.
“We do not have updates on their conditions, but we have not heard of any severe injuries,” he said.
Roakes said Amherst County is organizing volunteers and hopes to be busing them in to the affected areas to reduce traffic congestion by today. Anyone interested in helping or in need of help is asked to call (434) 946-9307 for planning and scheduling purposes.
A resource center will be available for those who need assistance from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Elon Elementary School.
Waste containers have been placed at the intersections of Deerfield and Hunt Club drives and at Nottaway Drive and Saponi Drive in Elon to assist with cleanup efforts.
Those who live in storm-affected areas who need volunteer help can call (434) 946-9307.
At Tuesday’s public meeting in Elon, which drew dozens of residents, Amherst County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Claudia Tucker said the county's job is to make sure affected residents have what they need to get through the tragedy. "For the grace of God, we lost structures, but we didn't lose any lives," she said. "Our job is to make sure government is providing for you."
County Administrator Dean Rodgers said the devastating, life-changing event will not be over in a week and will take months to fully recover from.
"We're going to do our best to stay with you through it," Rodgers said.
Rachel Mahoney and Justin Faulconer contributed.