POWELL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — With only two weeks left until the deadline to apply for induvial FEMA assistance, Governor Andy Beshear along with the Kentucky Emergency Management is working with FEMA to provide in-person assistance to Kentuckians.
On Monday, FEMA representatives were in Powell County at their Individual Assistance Registration Support Centers at the Clay City Church of God.
Kenny Rice lived right down the street from the church. He had to tear down his home because of the flood damage.
"It's just frustrating because of the stress of having your home flooded and losing your material things and everything else and then have to deal with another layer of bureaucracy to try to just get your life back to normal," said Rice.
He says the opportunity to talk to people that could help him in person, was a relief.
"They answered a question that I've had for two and a half months, they answered it in like 5 minutes," Rice explained.
That's exactly the type of impact the state and FEMA representatives hoped for when they established the hubs, offering another avenue to help people in need.
"Well think about it, your home is being flooded, you can't live in it, your kids may be out of school because of it, your job may have been affected, and you're trying to deal with all this stuff and then you find out that getting help is going to require more complicated things like finding the deed to your house," explained FEMA spokesperson Jack Heesch. "Someone can come here to one of our assistance centers, and sit down with someone who can say okay, here's exactly what you need."
FEMA says around 2,507 claims have been submitted for assistance across the 31 counties impacted. So far, they've dispersed about $4 million.
There will be support centers located in nine counties over the next two weeks until the deadline to apply on June 23: Powell, Breathitt, Johnson, Estill, Magoffin, Martin, Clay, Floyd and Lee counties
Kentuckians do not have to register or seek in-person assistance in the county where they live.
Here are the dates and locations:
Open Monday and Tuesday, June 7-8:
Powell County
Clay City Church of God: 4200 Main Street, Clay City, KY 40312
Breathitt County
Old Montessori School: 422 Jett Drive, Jackson, KY 41339
Johnson County
City of Paintsville Tourism Welcome Center: 100 Stave Branch Road, Paintsville, KY 41256
Open Thursday to Saturday, June 10-12:
Estill County
Estill County Enrichment Center: 100 Golden Court, Irvine, KY 40336
Magoffin County
Magoffin County Health Department: 119 E. Mountain Parkway, Salyersville, KY 41465
Martin County
Martin County Business Center: 104 E. Main Street, Inez, KY 41224
Open Wednesday to Friday, June 16-18:
Clay County
Clay County Community Center: 311 Highway 638, Manchester, KY 40962
Open Thursday to Saturday, June 17-19:
Floyd County
Floyd County Community Center: 7199 Kentucky Highway 60, Langley, KY 41645
Lee County
Lee County Community Center: 500 Mountain Top Road, Beattyville, KY 41311
REQUIREMENTS
You should have the following information available to register:
- Address of the damaged primary dwelling where damage occurred
- Current mailing address
- Current telephone number
- Social Security number
- Your insurance information
- Total household annual income
- Routing and account numbers for checking or savings accounts so FEMA may directly transfer disaster assistance funds
- A description of disaster damage and losses
However, individuals do not need to visit a registration support center to apply or update their application. Homeowners and renters may also register for assistance with FEMA in one of three ways:
- Online at DisasterAssistance.gov
- Downloading the FEMA app
- Calling 800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585). Multilingual operators are available seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time (press 2 for Spanish).
Those who use a Relay service, such as a videophone, Innocaption or CapTel, should provide their specific number assigned to that service. It is important that FEMA can contact you. Phone calls from FEMA may come from an unidentified number.
