For damage from severe snow in February
FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 1, 2015) — Gov. Steve Beshear was notified late Thursday that President Obama has authorized assistance for some Kentucky counties that suffered significant damage as a result of the February severe winter storm event.
The president’s action makes federal funding available to affected governments and certain non-profit organizations under FEMA’s Public Assistance Program.
Disaster requests are pending approval for a subsequent heavy snowstorm in March and a flooding event in April. FEMA has changed its policies regarding disaster declarations, requiring states to gather much more information about damages before filing a formal declaration request, which can take weeks or even months. FEMA’s review of those requests can be lengthy.
Beshear declared a statewide emergency on Feb. 16 as a snowstorm dumped record amounts of snow (up to a foot or more) in some counties, followed by historic bitter arctic temperatures and localized flooding. The extreme temperatures caused significant damage to water plants in some eastern Kentucky counties. Thousands of customers were without water service for several weeks, prompting Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM) to coordinate delivery of almost 450,000 gallons of water to the impacted counties.
The following counties met their federal thresholds for measurable damage, and will be eligible for assistance for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities:
- Boyd
- Boyle
- Caldwell
- Clark
- Estill
- Floyd
- Harlan
- Jackson
- Jessamine
- Knott
- Knox
- Lawrence
- Lee
- Letcher
- Lyon
- Marshall
- Menifee
- Metcalfe
- Morgan
- Pendleton
- Perry
- Pike
- Powell
- Simpson
- Taylor
- Washington
- Wolfe
The following counties also qualified for emergency snow assistance:
- Boyd
- Boyle
- Caldwell
- Estill
- Floyd
- Jackson
- Jessamine
- Knott
- Lawrence
- Lee
- Lyon
- Menifee
- Morgan
- Pike
- Powell
- Simpson
- Taylor
- Washington
- Wolfe
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