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Historic Chalk Level community to receive $4 million to recover from 2021 Newnan tornado

By and FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  February 2, 2023 6:12pm EST
Newnan
FOX 5 Atlanta

Recovery and reconstruction efforts continue in Newnan following 2021 tornado

In 2021 parts of Newnan were devastated after a powerful tornado ripped through. The recovery and reconstruction continues, and now the federal government is granting millions in funding to assist.

NEWNAN, Ga. - An historic neighborhood in Newnan will get some federal help in their almost two-year recovery from the tornado that hit there in 2021.

Chalk Level has had a more difficult time recovering from the tornado that hit Newnan in 2021. The federal government will now spend $4 million to help residents who are still struggling to either fix their property or find affordable housing.

It was an EF-4 tornado with winds of 170 mph that hit the area on March 25, 2021. An estimated 1,700 structures were either damaged or destroyed.

The historic African-American community took a direct hit and two years later continues to recover slowly.

Sen. Raphael Warnock toured Chalk Level a year after the storm and helped shepherd the relief spending through Congress.

Blue tarps cover hundreds of homes in Coweta County after a powerful EF-4 tornado on March 26, 2021. (FOX 5)

Chalk Level has historic significance in Newnan, where many of the town’s Black professionals and working class families lived since the 1880s.

In more modern times, the brother of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church.

No timetable has been given on when Newnan will receive the federal funds or when the projects will be completed.