Beshear asking White House to add 16 more counties for FEMA aid
Published 11:37 am Wednesday, April 30, 2025
- Photo courtesy of Lincoln County School District A photo of the Goshen Road area shows flooding after several inches of rain fell last Friday morning.
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – Gov. Andy Beshear announced on Tuesday he has sent two additional requests to FEMA seeking aid for families and communities affected by April’s floods after President Donald Trump approved the major disaster declaration late last week.
First, the governor is requesting families in 16 more counties receive Individual Assistance to help them recover. On April 25, the governor announced that President Donald Trump had given the okay to part of his April 11 request for a Major Disaster Declaration, which included Individual Assistance for Kentuckians in 13 of the counties affected by the most recent flooding.
Families in the first 13 counties approved for Individual Assistance are: Anderson, Butler, Carroll, Christian, Clark, Franklin, Hardin, Hopkins, Jessamine, McCracken, Mercer, Owen and Woodford, can visit any Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) for recovery assistance and to apply for federal aid. While eight DRCs have already opened, All 13 counties are expected to have one by April 30.
The 16 additional counties in this latest request are: Bullitt, Calloway, Grayson, Hancock, Hart, Henderson, Jefferson, Lincoln, McLean, Meade, Nelson, Ohio, Powell, Trimble, Warren and Webster.
Second, the governor is now requesting Public Assistance for 64 counties in which FEMA has validated damages. The Governor also renewed his request for approval for hazard mitigation for the entire state.
At the time of the initial request, the Governor noted that more counties would be added to the declaration through an amendment process as assessments are completed.
“As promised, today we are asking President Trump to approve federal aid for additional counties and families affected by April’s floods,” Beshear said. “These funds are crucial in helping our families and communities rebuild, and we are planning to add even more counties later this week. We are committed to making sure our families get the help they need.”
As the rains led to widespread flooding, Gov. Beshear declared a state of emergency on April 2, and activated the State Emergency Operations Center and the state’s price gouging laws to protect Kentuckians from overpriced goods and services as they clean up and recover from the severe weather. The price gouging prohibition was renewed April 17.
Following the storms, the governor urged local officials to start the federal Individual Assistance and Public Assistance damage assessments and asked Kentuckians who experienced storm damage to take photographs before cleaning up and to report the damages to their local emergency management officials.