CLAY - AL -
It's another day on the job for Steve Small, Jr.
He clears off land lots left behind by last year's tornado in Clay.
He's cleared off about 25 lots in the past year from Clay to Center Point. He's been asked, however, to do closer to 75, but he says he can't because most insurance doesn't cover it.
"It's real slow when you have to deal with that," he said.
He wishes he could do more.
"It is a very depressing situation," he said.
Also depressing are the blue tarps that still hang from some houses. They are a constant reminder, according to Mayor Charles Webster, of the work still needing to be done.
"I know that's a process," he said. "I've been through that process. Sometimes it takes a year or two to get insurance money and to get your contractors all lined up."
It's been an uphill battle for Clay. From the beginning the city received no help.
"We had no federal assistance and no state assistance," Webster said.
Meaning $500,000 in the general fund that would have been spent elsewhere had to go towards cleanup. But Webster says Clay is coming back.
"There's a lot of good people in Clay," he said.
And it's been the good people of Clay, he says, that have been and continue to be the driving force to getting this small community back to normal.
"I've lived here all my life and that's one thing that I like about this little community," Webster said. "If you need help, there's people here to help you."
Webster says he's hopeful all the blue tarps will be gone by January 2014.
