John Gilbert figures the odds are stacked against him when it comes to surviving tornadoes.
Gilbert has lived on Elizabeth Street with his wife Louise for the past 44 years. So far, they've had some close calls but their brick house still stands.
He reckons that "sooner or later it will get us."
On Thursday, Gilbert and Louise stopped by Leflore County Emergency Management to fill out an application for a tornado shelter.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency announced earlier this month that it had been awarded a $6.6 million grant for storm shelters.
T.W. Cooper, director of Leflore County Emergency Management, said applicants for storm shelters have flooded his office.
Grant funds will be distributed among counties and individuals to purchase both above- and below- ground shelters and safe rooms.
Priority will be given to families who have sustained high wind damage to their homes in 2005.
The application period runs for 45 days, from Feb. 1 until March 17. Grant recipients have until June 10, 2007, to install the shelters.
Recipients will be reimbursed up to 75 percent of costs, but no less than 50 percent. The state will pay no more than $3,500.
Last year, the county picked up 12 above-ground, concrete tornado shelters. Shelters were distributed in six communities, according to Cooper.
People packed shelters last year when severe storms hit the Delta during Hurricane Katrina.
