President Joe Biden will visit Alabama’s Queen City Sunday to commemorate a landmark moment in the Civil Rights Movement.

“Bloody Sunday” was the day in 1965 that white police beat Black civil rights marchers as they attempted to cross Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge to gain the right to vote.

This year, the bridge crossing and Selma Jubilee events come as the city works to recover from an EF-2 tornado that hit on Jan. 12.

The storm devastated parts of Selma, displacing residents and destroying homes and businesses. According to Selma’s mayor, many residents who were displaced are still living in hotels. But for the jubilee, they’ll be looking for alternative placements as visitors arrive for the celebrations.

“Some of those that were in hotels are being displaced because the hotels had long term reservations for people who were in attendance to the Jubilee. And so we are working to try to identify places for them to stay. So there’s still a lot of human suffering going on as a consequence of this storm,” said Mayor James Perkins.

Nine people were killed in Autauga County from the storm. Fortunately, there were no deaths or serious injuries in Selma.

Read more: How to help Autauga, Selma tornado victims.

Perkins says visitors likely won’t see the damage from the tornado since it didn’t hit downtown, and the city will be discouraging people from traveling into impacted areas because cleanup is still underway. According to Perkins, about 70% of the debris has been cleaned up at this point.

But he hopes people will still invest in the community when they come to visit and understand the need.

“I’m hoping that the philanthropic organizations and individuals who come into the community will see the need, feel the need, and deposit something into Selma to help us with our needs,” said Perkins. “Selma has literally done more for this nation than it could ever do for itself. And the nation owes Selma and you know, my goal is to ask that the nation pays what it owes.”

Other events will take place in town Sunday, including Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church’s Courageous Free Thinkers Celebration.

Biden is expected to visit the bridge around 2 p.m. Sunday for the annual march across the bridge, speeches and awards.

See the full schedule of weekend events, plus information about lodging, parking, food and more for the 2023 Selma Jubilee, here.