2015 tornado response unified community
December 23, 2025, is the 10th anniversary of the Holly Springs tornado that left destruction in its path, including houses, church buildings and infrastructure such as power lines.
A response effort, joined by many volunteers, quickly organized after the tornado swept through the south and west side of Holly Springs.
The Marshall County Executive Disaster Committee was formed just days following the late afternoon black twister. It took a full year to complete its work.
Holly Springs Mayor Kelvin Buck was at the command center set up in the Walmart parking lot within minutes following the wail of the tornado sirens.
He recalls how it affected him personally and the community in general.
“The thing I remember most about the tornado is how much devastation it caused,” he said. “Cars thrown into the fields and homes totally demolished. I later learned some precious lives were taken by the storm. I also remember how first responders, like firemen and police, worked to save lives and rescue people who were trapped.”
The storm knocked out much of the Holly Springs Utility Department power grid and mutual agreements with sister power providers helped rebuild the system.
The Mississippi and Federal emergency management agencies (MEMA and FEMA) helped cover some of the cost of repairs to the tune of over $1 million, Buck said.
“Our system has been fully restored and paid for,” he said.
On a personal level, the tornado was a major life event, the mayor said.
“The tornado was perhaps the second most challenging event during my service as mayor, second only to the current challenge of the coronavirus pandemic that we have had to manage for almost a year now,” Buck said. “I really think that what pulled this community through the tornado was how well we helped each other, like The Mississippi Red Cross and other organizations who came to help. Our first responders and utility workers were extremely helpful in saving lives and getting us back online. Our churches really stepped up and provided immediate and long-term help for families all over the county, not just in Holly Springs.”
Bill Scott was selected to head up the Marshall County Disaster Recovery Executive Committee.
Members of the committee also included Fred Carlisle, Bill Dawson, Al Beck, R.C. Anderson, Archie Bowens and Rodney Whaley.
The committee organized the county’s response team which helped rebuild two houses from the ground up, repaired about 14 houses and furnished 66 homes with living room, dining room, and kitchen appliances. The furniture was donated by Churches of Christ Disaster Relief.
Sacred Heart Southern Missions provided a paid fulltime field coordinator.
Eight Days of Hope was the first disaster recovery group to arrive the morning after the tornado.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) helped the executive committee coordinate the county’s response.
Scott said he got a call from the Senatobia and New Albany district, which formed a response from area pastors.
“One day I got a call from my assistant superintendent asking for a meeting at Asbury,” Scott said.
“Larry Hall, MEMA and the mayor showed up. That’s when the executive committee was set up.” Hall read off the list of names the county wanted on the executive committee. Soon the group met at Asbury and Scott was named chairperson.
UMCOR in Jackson sent in case managers who were paid to get to work armed with funding of up to $3,000 for any case the committee worked on. Local Methodist churches also sent money.
UMCOR worked to help train the Benton County response team as well.
“UMCOR cut their teeth on Katrina 10 years earlier,” Scott said. “They did a bang-up job.” The committee spent over $1 million on recovery but never had more than $120,000 on hand at any one time. The first major contribution came from the Bank of Holly Springs, which put $50,000 into the recovery fund to kick off the county’s campaign.
Some people could not qualify for help from FEMA or MEMA so the recovery committee helped those.
Scott said his family was in Holly Springs for Christmas. They included children and grandchildren. The electricity was not lost at his house so his family watched the blue lights and emergency personnel and Mayor Buck on television, he said.
“I had no idea of the extent of it until we went down three days later,” he said. “That’s when I got hooked into it.”
Scott went to the Eddie Lee Smith Multi-Purpose Center where people were dropping off clothing and other items in all kinds of condition, Scott said.
“Ronnie Joe Bennett (president of the board of supervisors), Larry Hall, Mayor Buck and the Red Cross were there. My son said, `they are pointing at you.’
“They came over and said, Bill, we have a lot of good things going on here but we have no idea if we are helping the greedy or the needy.”
Scott was asked to help organize the donations being dropped off there by Good Samaritans.
Scott was in charge of determining who needed help and had a list of questions. People went behind a curtain and were asked if their electricity went off, if they lost food and if they lost their medicines.
Prospective donors were told if they were going to donate they needed to drop off clean stuff, good stuff.
The Salvation Army was there and asked some of the clothing be sent by truck to the Mississippi Delta where storm damages were heavy.
MEMA had a contract with all of the disaster programs active in the state at the time.
It told Marshall County that its response team was so well organized, it wanted the team to work to help other counties set up their teams.
Al Beck remembers the first thing about the tornado was the limited number of deaths. Only two tornado fatalities were recorded in Marshall County. Immediately following the tornado Marshall County Sheriff’s Department deputies fanned out in the dark working search and rescue.
“We were very thankful we didn’t have a large number of fatalities,” Beck said. “Second, we were fortunate to pull a team together led by Dr. Scott and organize a construction effort. Church of Christ Disaster Relief donated a lot of furniture. And Catholic Charities helped raise money and get supplies. Lots of churches helped with our efforts.”
Marshall County helped people rebuild or repair their homes.
“It was a yeoman’s effort on the part of the entire county,” Beck said. “I appreciate serving on the committee to pull our community back together. When things go well we celebrate and when disaster strikes we pull together.”
Barry Thomas offered his arena property to the Amish and Mennonite communities to set up camp. The Amish and Mennonites built a commons and kitchen area so their volunteers from Pennsylvania could cook, eat and hold prayer services. A new bus arrived each week with a fresh group of girls and boys to help build back houses and churches.
“It was quite an experience to watch folks come that far and work for people for free,” he said. “It was a fascination.”
The youth as early as 13 years of age are taught trades. They rode the bus 18 hours to get to Holly Springs.
“Little boys and girls worked carpentry – ran nail guns and saws,” Thomas said.
“Honestly, our community didn’t even know to appreciate their efforts,” he said. “It was something to see, the love they have for strangers. It was quite an experience for me just to watch them. When you care about someone you don’t even know, and expect nothing in return – they really affected me while they were here.”
Thomas said he went to Pennsylvania to visit them afterward.
“They left from here and went to Texas,” he said.
(Editor’s Note: This article was printed in The South Reporter December 24, 2020, Issue No. 52, Page 12.)