FEMA leases city office space in Prattville
PRATTVILLE — FEMA has a temporary home in downtown Prattville.
The City of Prattville is leasing space to the federal agency as it works on recovery efforts from the deadly Jan. 12 tornadoes that struck the region. The city bought the closed Whitney-Hancock bank building in 2021 for about $1.3 million.
FEMA is paying $100,000 per month for a three-month lease, with an option to extend another three months if needed, records at city hall show. The agency started moving in last week. Along with FEMA representatives, representatives from the Small Business Administration and the Alabama Emergency Managment Agency will also use the office space, which is about 35,000 square feet.
“This suits FEMA’s needs of being centrally located in the areas that were damaged by the tornadoes,” said Mayor Bill Gillespie Jr. “We were fortunate not to have any damage from the storms, but we are working to help our neighbors recover as quickly as possible.”
The city has been working on a plan for using the building, which has remained empty until now.
“It worked out well,” Gillespie said. “FEMA was able to move in and set up quickly. And we do receive some economic benefit.”
The former bank building is adjacent to the city hall annex, and across West Main Street from city hall.
From the archives:Prattville City Council delays decision on purchase of downtown bank building
On Jan. 12 an EF-2 tornado, packing winds of up to 120 miles per hour, struck Selma about noon. It caused major damage in the city, but there were no fatalities and two injuries reported. The tornado was on the ground about 22 miles, National Weather Service surveys showed.
About a half-hour after Selma was hit, the same supercell thunderstorm spawned an EF-3 tornado that touched down in central Autauga County. It had winds of up to 150 m.p.h., NWS data shows. Seven people died and more than a dozen were injured in Autauga County in the tornado.
That storm stayed on the ground about 80 miles, causing damage in Autauga, Elmore, Coosa, Tallapoosa and Chambers counties before dissipating near the Alabama-Georgia line.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: FEMA leases city-owned former bank building in Prattville
