Following the destruction wrought from five tornadoes on December 10 and 11 in central and western Kentucky, officials have described the damage as disrupted homes and businesses, jack-knifed trees stripped of leaves and bark, and shredded debris from the path created by 190-mph twisters.
Two months removed from those events, FEMA representatives and other organizations remain embedded in the recovery efforts. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District has completed its first pass of debris removal in Graves County and Mayfield — clearing more than 280,000 cubic yards of refuse.
Meanwhile, FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration have approved more than $49 million in federal assistance for homeowners and renters who are uninsured and/or underinsured.
Those eligible will begin receiving travel trailers and other forms of temporary housing assistance, especially in the hardest-hit counties of Caldwell, Graves, Hopkins, Marshall, Muhlenberg and Warren. For these six counties specifically, FEMA has approved an increase in the rental assistance rate for eligible residents in need of temporary housing.
With the increase, survivors who are approved for FEMA temporary housing assistance may be able to rent units at 25% above fair market rents established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
For example, the HUD fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit in Warren County is $845, but with a 25% increase in rental assistance, a survivor can rent a two-bedroom unit for up to $1,056.
Disaster survivor assistance teams have knocked on more than 11,000 doors in the affected neighborhoods, and visited nearly 2,000 community spaces and business locations — helping people apply and providing information on federal programs.
FEMA’s Public Assistance program has also geared up, preparing to help with the cost of everything from debris removal to repairing and rebuilding damaged public infrastructure. The federal disaster declaration designated Caldwell, Christian, Fulton, Graves, Hart, Hickman, Hopkins, Logan, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Taylor, Todd and Warren counties for all Public Assistance categories and additional counties for various services such as reimbursement of debris removal expenses.
The application deadline for FEMA relief has also been extended from Sunday, March 13, to Monday, March 14.
