Six Months After Huge Tornado, Mayfield, KY A Blank Slate. Where Will It Go?

Screen grab from video showing Mayfield, Kentucky
six months after a tornado decimated the city. Lots of 
depressing empty lots in the community's downtown now.

 It has already been about six months since one of the nation's most destructive tornadoes in over a decade decimated the small city of Mayfield, Kentucky.     

The December 10 storm wiped out much of the city, including virtually all of its historic downtown. 

As you can see by the video below, most of the debris has been hauled away since December.  

Now is the most depressing part of Mayfield's saga. There's just blank concrete slabs where buildings once stood. Empty lot after empty lot is all that's left of where homes, businesses and other enterprises once hummed along nicely.

We still don't know what the fate of this city will be. There are certainly signs of life.  As governing.com points out, a barbecue restaurant called The Barn is about to reopen in a new building on the main drag through town. That's a nice early sign of a rebirth. 

A few houses are being rebuilt, too, but they are still few and far between. The future is, of course, uncertain. Other towns famously destroyed by tornadoes have bounced back, which is a hopeful sign. 

The small city of Greensburg, Kansas has half the population it had before a 2007 tornado completely leveled the community. But most of the people who stayed or moved back to Greensburg are younger. The town has also become a showcase for renewable building and energy use from renewables. There's still some sense of vibrancy there.

The city of Joplin, Missouri is thriving 11 years after an immense tornado destroyed much of the community.  Joplin's population is now actually larger than it was before the tornado, with more businesses and educational opportunities than pre-tornado times. And the rebuilt houses are designed to be more storm resistant. 

So. there's still hope for Mayfield. To residents there, the road back is still an unknown quantity.  The emptiness is no doubt haunting. But we can hope that Mayfield can be a solid city again. 

Here's the video of the city, six months after. Click on this link if you don't see the image of the video on your device.