President Joe Biden approves disaster declarations for EKY counties

HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - More than 20 counties are now eligible to receive federal funding following the storms in February.

In the news release, President Joe Biden approved the following counties: Bell, Breathitt, Caldwell, Carter, Clay, Elliott, Floyd, Harlan, Hart, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Powell, Whitley and Wolfe.

Perry County Emergency Management Director Jerry Stacy said that the responses have been quicker.

“We are happy about that because it allows us to understand ‘okay this is definitely going to be a funded process,’ and at some point in time we are going to receive funding on the work that we are doing today so, it is good news,” he said.

He added that with this approval, the money will apply to specific sites that were damaged by floods and landslides, specifically roads.

He explained that county officials have already repaired some roads due to their conditions.

“We have even started the work because some of it is so bad, you can’t wait on it, and as far as access- certain areas cut off, or almost cut off, school buses not being able to access certain communities because roads are broken away,” he said.

He said that they have made a lot of progress on flood recovery, even with a lot of the obstacles along the way.

“We have gotten a lot accomplished even already from the February event, on the heels of dealing with the July event from last year,” he explained.

He said the county is continuing to work through flood damages adding that they have a long way to go.

Copyright 2023 WYMT. All rights reserved.