First, the state attorney general is warning residents to look out for fraudulent repairmen trying to make a dollar off of storm damage.

Wtva's wayne hereford is in hamilton where he talked to a resident and a volunteer about the problem.

He joins us live.

Anytime there's a tornado in our area, you can bet , says the attorney general's office there will be scammers after your insurance money.

That's why it pays , they say , to be careful who you hire .

."

Bite or nats?

Lisa savage lives in hamilton mississippi and right now is living with a friend after the tornado severley damaged her home ..inside..and out, and even destroyed shed where she had moved most of her furniture during a remodeling project.

She has already talked to a contractor about getting work done.

"i've already talked to a contractor .we're waiting on insurance people to come in and tell us what can be done.my ceilings have fell in,my barn's destroyed trees downed .so we're just waiting sto sewe what the insurance will let us do."

Lisa says she has been warned by fema and others to watch out for crooked contractors who may try to take advantage of her and get her insurance money.

In the meantime she has been getting help from volunteers like team rubicon a group of ex-military vets and volunteers that travel the country helping others.

They've seen the scammers other parts of the country like florida after a hurricane.

"we've had some cases down there where somebody would come in and charge them 15- thousand dollars to take down three trees.

That might have cost five - hundred dollars a tree."

"they said if somebody shows up on your property with heavy equipment don't let them touch anything."

The attorney general's office reports that you should always get more than one estimate for your work, ensure that all quotes are in writing for the full scope of the work and have a written home repair contract in place before allowing any work to begin.

If you would like to know more about what to do and avoid a contracting scam you can go to the attorney general's website or call their office in jackson.

Reporting live in hamjilton i'm wayne hereford