The letter and request come on the heels of two devastating December tornados only 5 days apart.
A federal disaster declaration has to come from the governor, and the city has to have the damage numbers to support it.
Thursday, Mayor Jones sent those numbers to both FEMA and Governor Bentley saying, by the city's count, at least 875 houses were damaged.
That total reflects, not just the Christmas Day tornado, but also the one that hit the city 5 days earlier.
The mayor says he's combined the two in his request and says that shouldn't be a problem.
It's been done before , in 2011, when tornadoes hit the Tuscaloosa area.
"Certainly we don't have the situation that Tuscaloosa had," said the mayor, "and I'm thankful for that. but we do have a lot of devastation here, we do have a lot of people suffering. We have churches, we have businesses, and we need some help, some level of help."
The mayor said, in his letter, "The disaster periods are quite similar. We are asking FEMA to treat the Mobile tornado in the same manner."
Even though the request must come form the governor, Mayor Jones tells me he plans to lobby for support next when with Alabama legislators when he travels to Washington, D.C. next week for the national mayor's conference.
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