TRYON — The town of Tryon will receive $32,122 for last October’s tornado clean up after Gov. Roy Cooper issued a state of public assistance disaster declaration recently.

On Oct. 8, 2017, portions of Tryon and Lake Lanier were hit with an EF1 tornado that did significant damage to Melrose Avenue and the town’s Woodland Park.

Tryon spent $42,830 on clean up, according to Town Manager Zach Ollis, and the state will reimburse the town 75 percent, or $32,122.

“When a big storm hits a small town, the result can be overwhelming to a local budget,” Cooper said after signing the declaration. “This assistance will help these communities recover funds spent clearing storm debris and providing emergency services, and will allow local services to continue without financial hardship.”

Ollis said he received word from Andy Innis, with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and its division of emergency management that Cooper formalized the declaration on April 24.

Ollis said the request should be processed from there for the reimbursement.

“I just want to thank Andy Innis and the Division of Emergency Management for everything they did,” Ollis said. “While we were still piecing things together, they were out to work with us in short order. They made it an extremely easy process for us to navigate and had it not been for them, the town would not have been so successful in its effort to clean up the debris.”

Following the tornado, the town spent significant time cleaning up fallen trees and debris. The National Weather Service surveyed the damage the next day and declared that it was an EF1 tornado, with wind speeds of up to 95 mph.

Many of the downed trees involved taking down utility poles as well, with the town later reporting that at least 24 electrical utility poles were broken and 24 transformers destroyed. The NWS recorded 3.27 inches of rain the day of the tornado, with 2,000 Duke Energy customers without power from Oct. 8, 2017, until Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, 2017.