FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – Nearly every member of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation has sent a letter to President Joe Biden, asking him to issue a disaster declaration for parts of Kentucky affected by severe weather in February.
The state’s federal delegation sent a joint letter to President Biden, urging his approval of Gov. Andy Beshear's request for a Major Disaster Declaration, which would release federal funding to assist with critical clean-up and repairs. The letter was signed by U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Rand Paul, and Congressmen Hal Rogers (KY-05), James Comer (KY-01), Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) and Andy Barr (KY-06), showing bipartisan support on behalf of the state’s storm recovery needs.
Kentucky’s only member of Congress not participating as a signatory of the letter is Congressman Thomas Massie (KY-04).
"The Commonwealth of Kentucky has endured several weather disasters in recent years,” the members stated. “This event comes on the heels of some of the worst events Kentucky has ever seen. We appreciate your previous support to help our communities, but additional federal assistance is necessary. In some counties, continued and heavy rainfall also caused flash flooding, many of which have already been devastated by the historic July 2022 flooding disaster."
The Kentucky Department for Public Health has confirmed that the storms led to the deaths of two people, one in Bath County and one in Marion County.
"This weather event caused long and sustained power outages across the Commonwealth and severely damaged both public and private properties," the Members continued. "In addition, the flooding brought mudslides and landslides to many communities and multiple counties have reported the loss of both public and private bridges, and other infrastructure losses."
After the February event, Gov. Beshear issued a state of emergency for those counties affected.
At the time he said, “Sadly, we are once again having to take action to support our communities and Kentucky families impacted by severe weather. Kentucky Emergency Management has been monitoring the events and working with counties impacted across the state to submit damage assessments. We anticipate that we will reach the threshold for a federal declaration, and we will request it at the right time.”
The request was submitted on March 27th and includes FEMA Public Assistance for 22 counties, including: Bell, Breathitt, Caldwell, Carter, Clay, Elliot, Floyd, Harlan, Hart, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Powell, Whitley, and Wolfe counties.