U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell will host a series of community conversations to provide the local community with a public forum to discuss their vision of reimagining and rebuilding Selma and Dallas County following the tornado and severe storms that struck the area on Jan. 12.

An EF-2 tornado devastated parts of the city of Selma, damaging property and displacing hundreds of residents. Earlier this month Selma Mayor James Perkins said the storm ultimately destroyed about 40% of the city’s neighborhoods.

40

Tornado Damage Selma,AL

According to an announcement from Sewell’s office, a number of officials will attend the roundtable conversations, including Sewell, Perkins, Dallas County Judge Jimmy Nunn, and other local elected officials from the Selma City Council and Dallas County Commission, as well as representatives from federal agencies.

Sewell, who represents Alabama’s 7th congressional district, which includes the city of Selma and Dallas County, will host the first conversation today at Wallace Community College in the Earl Goodwin Theatre. The event will begin at 4 p.m.

“Monday’s conversation by the Congresswoman follows the ongoing federal, state, and local partnership to recover and rebuild in Alabama’s 7th Congressional District following the January 12th storms,” Sewell’s office said in a press release. “On March 8, 2023, just three days after he visited Selma on the 58th Commemoration of Bloody Sunday, President Biden sent his Senior Advisor, White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu, back to Selma to meet with local officials to reiterate the White House’s commitment to rebuilding the communities impacted by the devastating storms.”

READ: Roy S. Johnson: Now, Selma may finally be seen and restored

In addition to calling for the protection and expansion of voting rights during his visit to Selma on March 5, President Biden also addressed efforts to help Selma rebuild. He promised the city would be fully reimbursed for its cleanup efforts and Selma and Dallas County would continue to receive direct support through the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act.

In January, the Alabama Congressional Delegation issued a letter urging President Biden to increase the amount of disaster relief from the FEMA Public Assistance program for debris removal and emergency protective measures in Alabama from 75% to 100%. Biden granted the request on Feb. 9. Over the past two months, Sewell (D-Ala.) has hosted a series of disaster relief town halls and resource fairs for the affected counties as they work to recover from the damage.

Decades of regional and federal disinvestment have made Selma the fastest shrinking city in Alabama, losing nearly 2% of its population between 2020 and 2021. In the 1970s, the closing of Craig Air Force Base ushered in a new wave of financial hardship at the dawn of the 1980s.

Both Sewell and Perkins have called on national leaders to support policy that would help Selma, especially the city’s nearly $500 million worth of infrastructure needs.

“Selma was in trouble before the tornado,” Perkins told the bipartisan delegation of congressional leaders gathered on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the annual Faith and Politics Institute pilgrimage in Selma. “When you look at the exclusion of interstate systems not just in Selma, but through the Blackbelt, we have been systematically excluded from the interstate system. Eighty-five percent of development in this nation takes place within five miles of an interstate exchange. How do you expect us to grow without the infrastructure to support it?”

“That’s what we need from Washington,” continued Perkins. ”That’s what we need when you go into the appropriations committee. We need money to prop up this infrastructure. We are the third largest community in this state. The infrastructure is old. It’s crumbling.”

In early March, Perkins told AL.com he estimated about 70% of the debris from the storms has been cleaned up, thanks in part to the declaration from President Biden and the federal government to reimburse all of the city’s cleanup efforts.

Crews and residents in Selma were still working to clear remaining debris and repair property in the city. Fallen tree limbs still impale some houses, while decimated buildings with destroyed roofs are still covered in blue tarps. One of the hardest-hit parts of the city is the area near Ebenezer Baptist Church.

READ: As Selma rebuilds, the family of F.D. Reese will host a day of service in his honor

Abina Phillips is the cofounder of Salute Selma, an organization devoted to political and economic empowerment in the city. While she can’t attend Sewell’s community conversation on Monday, she does hope attendees talk about how to bring more jobs that pay a living wage to Selma.

Marla Moore, a community activist who also works with the Dallas County system of services, also can’t attend Monday’s session but hopes to attend a conversation in the future. She hopes officials will continue to have public conversations with Selma residents about how they plan to help the city rebuild.

“I just think having those conversations and community conversations with the public [is] important,” said Moore. “Us seeing the financial parts. Just being completely transparent and not just coming in just to do things because you see the opportunity to do something new. Get with the people and see. We’ve got a lot of needs and stuff around here now.”