Recovery efforts continue in the aftermath of the catastrophic tornadoes that struck at least six states last weekend, causing deaths and devastation in at least six states – Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Here are some resources to support community recovery:

• Fannie Mae offers mortgage assistance and disaster relief options to homeowners, renters and mortgage servicers affected by the tornadoes. Services include:
  • Personalized recovery assessment and action plans
  • Assistance with filing claims (e.g., FEMA, insurance, and Small Business Administration)
  • Support working with your mortgage servicer on payment relief options
  • Ongoing check-ins to help ensure a successful recovery
• FEMA tornado event updates, including updates on public assistance and individual financial support.
• The Enterprise guide, Strategies for Multifamily Building Resilience, is a tool to support continuity of operations and emergency management. It includes information on evacuations, resident communications and expense tracking to help you manage the disaster response.

If you have the means, please make a donation to support the local and national organizations working to bring disaster relief to the affected communities.

December’s tornadoes devastated untold communities, businesses and thousands of homes across the six affected states. It will take years to recover and rebuild from the wreckage. Experts believe some of the tornadoes may have been EF-4 or EF-5, meaning they carried winds of at least 166 miles per hour.

Scenes on the ground are at once extraordinary and increasingly familiar as natural disasters strike with greater frequency and ferociousness. Experts say these kinds of weather events may only become deadlier as climate change moves coastal populations inland to vulnerable areas.

And while storms, heat waves and wildfires have grown more prevalent and intense, most affordable homes weren’t built to withstand these threats.

The impact of these disasters is uneven, causing greater loss and hardship to Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities and families with lower incomes. That’s why our work on climate change response is urgent and our commitment to advance green building and resilience continues to deepen.

Please reach out to our team with questions or concerns at Recovery@enterprisecommunity.org. Or, contact Laurie Schoeman, Senior Program Director, National Initiatives, Resilience.