Tupelo has applied for FEMA money to repair Savannah Lane after the March 2025 storms and swap a pipe culvert for a concrete box. Public comments are open for 15 days.

The city of Tupelo has applied for federal disaster money to repair Savannah Lane, where a drainage crossing was damaged in a storm. The plan would also replace the road’s plastic pipes with a larger concrete box culvert, to cut the risk of the road washing out again.

The city posted the final public notice on its website Oct. 20. The application goes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

What happened to the road

The notice says Savannah Lane “was damaged due to flood water and wind velocity” during a tornado-producing storm. It files the work under federal disaster DR-4874.

That is the major disaster declaration for the severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding of March 14-15, 2025. FEMA’s declaration records show Lee County was approved for public assistance, the program that pays to rebuild public roads and buildings, when it was declared May 21, 2025.

The crossing sits in a floodway on Tupelo’s west side, according to the coordinates in the notice. The notice says it is part of the 100-year floodplain and that the work will take place in wetlands.

What the city plans to do

The notice lists the repairs needed to put the road back as it was:

  • 12.5 cubic yards of surface asphalt
  • 57 feet of curb and gutter
  • two 75-foot sections of 24-inch plastic culvert pipe, 150 feet in all
  • one concrete spillway
  • one concrete headwall

A mitigation proposal attached to the application goes further. It would replace the 24-inch pipe with a 60-foot precast concrete box culvert, 8 feet wide and 4 feet high, plus a precast wing wall. The notice says the aim is to improve “hydraulic capacity and durability” and reduce future flood damage.

The city weighed two alternatives and rejected both:

  • Doing nothing. The notice says the road would stay damaged, limiting safe access for residents, ambulances and fire trucks.
  • Moving the road. It says this is not practical, because the street has to cross the waterway where it is.

The notice does not give a cost or a construction date. The project title also names Waddle Alley, but the notice describes work on Savannah Lane only.

What it means for you

  • If you use Savannah Lane, the repair and the larger culvert are meant to keep the crossing open in heavy rain. Funding is conditional on the project meeting federal, state and local rules, so no work date has been set.
  • To comment, write to the city of Tupelo, or to FEMA Region 4 at FEMA-R4EHP@fema.dhs.gov with “DR-4874-MS EHP FIT” in the subject line. The mailing address is 3005 Chamblee Tucker Road, Office 255, Atlanta, GA 30341. You can also ask FEMA for the detailed findings.
  • Deadline: comments are due within 15 days of the notice. The notice leaves its own posting date blank. Counted from Oct. 20, when it went up on the city website, 15 days runs to Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Current closures and detours across the city are on our road construction and closures page. For who handles streets and drainage at City Hall, see who to call at Tupelo City Hall.