MURRAY – Two weeks after President Joe Biden signed a federal disaster declaration related to severe storms that hit Kentucky in late May, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff are on the ground and ready to help. The agency opened nine Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) across the commonwealth yesterday, including one in Calloway County.
The Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) is located at the Murray-Calloway County fairgrounds, 201 Fairground Road. The center cannot be accessed through the main gates; instead, visitors should turn on Fairground Road.
“I want to say a special thank you to the Murray-Calloway County Fair Board,” said Calloway County Emergency Management Director Josh Kerr. “I really appreciate them for stepping up and donating the use of the facility.”
Specifically, the declaration covers severe storms between May 21 and May 27, with 15 Kentucky counties being approved for individual assistance – Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Christian, Clay, Greenup, Hopkins, Knox, Logan, Muhlenberg, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Warren and Whitley.
For Calloway, the qualifying storm occurred around 8:30 a.m. on May 26, the day before Memorial Day. Two days later, County Judge-Executive Kenny Imes declared a state of emergency. The declaration memorialized the “tornado like winds of 80 miles per hour and substantial rain fall of 3 to 4 inches” that moved across the county, resulting in “hundreds of downed trees, major flooding to lakes and rivers, wind and tree damage to homes and structures, road closures and power outages for some areas up to 120 hours.”
According to Kerr, this is the first time the county has qualified for individual assistance.
“We did preliminary damage assessments right after the storm happened,” Kerr said. “There were probably about 20 properties that we went and surveyed. Of those, we had four that, under FEMA standards, were deemed as destroyed – so, they had damage excessive enough that it was unsafe to live in the home – that’s what put us up for individual assistance this time. … That’s the reason we have the Disaster Recovery Center here.”
All of the DRCs operate six days/week (closed Sundays) from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. FEMA Public Information Officer Rossyveth Rey said the extended hours give people the opportunity to get help without disrupting their work schedules.
Although yesterday was the first day the DRC is open, FEMA staff have been on the ground locally for three days. The Disaster Survivor Assistance teams go door-to-door in the affected areas. Rey advised that around 80 people have already been contacted directly by the team.
FEMA assistance is delivered through three programs – one for property owners, one for renters and one for business owners. Rey explained that, while the programs are designed for those who still have work to do, if people have already completed repairs, FEMA can reimburse those expenses.
“If they come with the receipts, we will reimburse all the money,” she said. “People who have insurance, they don’t to wait for their insurance (claims to be approved); they can apply for FEMA and get the money without having to wait for that.”
“Even if you’ve already recovered at this point, if you were out any expenses directly related to that storm, there may be some program you would qualify for,” Kerr said. “They were talking this morning about, let’s say, that you had to purchase a chainsaw – you didn’t have one and had to go buy one to clean up your property – they may be able to reimburse you for that expense. That’s a small expense, I understand, but it’s still something you could get.”
Going to a DRC is not the only way people can register with FEMA and apply for benefits. Alternatively, they can visit the website disasterassistance.gov, call 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to midnight local time or use the FEMA mobile app.
“The thing is that the app is for the phone-savvy,” Rey explained, “but we also have Disaster Recovery Centers because, in some disasters, you have people that have lost their computers, they don’t have Wi-Fi or there’s no (cell service) in the community.
“We have everything here – scanners, computers, Wi-Fi, everything they need to get the documents from, say, the IRS or getting their license – and we have people here to help them with that. We’re here to support them in the process.”
The first step is to register with FEMA. To do that, people need to provide contact information, including a good phone number; social security number; address where the damage occurred; bank account information, including the bank’s routing number, for direct deposit, if desired; and insurance policy information, if applicable.
“Once they get registered,” Rey said, “they are going to have a number – that’s the registration number – and they have to file under that. If they don’t hear anything from FEMA in two weeks, just call us back because maybe there is some problem with the (phone) number wall that we couldn’t get back to the survivor.”
In the wake of the devastating tornados that pummeled western Kentucky in December 2021, FEMA had trouble contacting survivors after they registered. The problem was so pervasive the state asked FEMA to extend their application deadline multiple times.
During a press briefing in February 2022, Gov. Andy Beshear begged people to pick up the phone. “We’ll spend all day calling the cell phones people left with FEMA and not enough of them are picking up,” he said.
According to Rey, FEMA has worked hard to enhance their assistance programs and rolled out a new model in March. This declaration is among the first using the revamped programs. Previously, it could take up to two months for people to receive funds, but now, they are receiving funds in five to 10 days.
“There’s a lot less documentation, so it’s faster now,” Rey said. “I was deployed to the tornados in Oklahoma before, and that was the first disaster with this new program. I saw people in five days, three days getting funds right away to their bank – three to five days from two months, that’s a lot of changes. I have seen the process, and it’s so much easier.”
When asked if the changes were related to problems Kentuckians had with FEMA after the tornados in western Kentucky in 2021 and the 2022 floods in eastern Kentucky, Rey quickly replied, “Yes.” She said that FEMA does case studies on their responses to learn from mistakes and also noted that, for an agency the size of FEMA, making sweeping program changes takes time.
“Now? It’s fantastic,” she added. “People’s responses are awesome.”
Representatives from the Small Business Administration (SBA) are also on site at the DRC. Angel Class, public affairs specialist for the Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, explained that SBA teams work with FEMA anytime there is a presidential disaster declaration.
“FEMA is the ‘tip of the spear,’” he said. “So, they bring other agencies in when it comes to disaster declarations. We’re one of those agencies that work with individuals, but don’t let the ‘Small Business Administration’ fool you; we do assist homeowners and renters alike if they need the assistance.”
SBA offers three types of low-interest loans. Eligibility is largely based on the location of the home or business and the type of assistance needed. Those who suffered physical damage or loss and are located in a disaster declared county may be eligible for business physical disaster loans and home disaster loans.
Economic injury disaster loans (EIDL) are designed to help businesses and nonprofits continue normal operations and meet necessary financial obligations through the recovery period.
“You may have heard of that during COVID,” Class said. “That’s actually where the program comes from. It’s to keep your doors open, to pay your rent, your taxes, your employees. It’s to help the community survive and be active again. The problem with a lot of disasters is that a lot of businesses tend to close down. That’s why we’re here.”
To qualify, applicants must also be able to demonstrate that they have the means to pay back the loan and have acceptable credit history.
“You have to have credit acceptable for SBA, but we don’t look at what the private sector looks at,” Class advised. “So, it’s easier to qualify through SBA for these programs than to go to a bank.”
Interest rates on SBA loans are fixed, and terms can be extended to 30 years if necessary. The limits on home loans are $500,000 for structures and $100,000 for contents, and businesses may be eligible for up to $2 million. Class advised that turnaround time is around 10-12 days.
In addition to restoring the lost property, borrowers can access additional funds for improvements to mitigate damage in future disasters.
But the first step is to register with FEMA, and while some may be referred to SBA by FEMA, a referral is not required. Class noted that, like FEMA, SBA has been working to streamline its processes and reduce barriers that may stand in the way of people getting the assistance they need. He encouraged people to come directly to SBA after they’ve registered with FEMA and see if they can help.
“So, we’re trying to work with everybody as much as possible, whether you have the means or not; our restrictions are very low,” Class said. “SBA does work with banks in other programs that we have, but in this program in particular, we work directly with the federal government to help every survivor that needs that assistance. That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Don’t let the Small Business Administration name fool you’ – we’re here to assist everybody when it comes to a disaster.”
For information about SBA, call 800-659-2955 or visit sba.gov. The application deadline for business physical disaster loans and home disaster loans is Monday, Sept. 23. People have longer to apply for EIDL; that deadline is April 23, 2025.
As for FEMA, Rey said the agency does not have a deadline. “We are going to be here as long as the state or other counties need us.”
Scroll down for additional resources from FEMA and SBA.
