Popular social media influencer supports his community through the current winter storm
By Brooklyn Joyner
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YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. (WAPT) — A winter storm has left Yazoo City, Mississippi, grappling with power outages and debris-filled streets, impacting residents like social media influencer Matthew Mann, who has been without power for several days.
“I don’t think anybody was prepared for the severity of it,” Mann said.
He’s most known for his presence on TikTok with over 1 million followers going by the name “Mattness.”
Days after the storm, Mann noted the ongoing challenges faced by the community.
“Three or four days passed, and the lights still never came on, and we could really see the extent of how people were affected by the ice storm,” he said.
Not only are residents without lights, but powerlines and trees still clutter some streets. While efforts to restore power have been underway, Mann highlighted the widespread impact.
“They have gotten a lot of power back for a lot of people, but I know our entire city shut down, our entire city lost power, our hospital was running on a generator,” he said.
Despite juggling nursing school, work, and social media, Mann is dedicating his free time to help clean up his community.
“I feel like God gave me a good heart and he gave me a willing body. I feel like if I had any free time between school and work, me and brother Brian would pull limbs up to my truck and pull out as many as we could out the road,” Mann said.
The recovery process has been challenging, but Mann remains committed to helping his town through the winter weather. He believes the struggle has strengthened community bonds.
“It’s catastrophic, but it brought a lot of people tighter, a lot of people have come together,” Mann said.
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