If you live in Whitley or Knox counties and you experienced loss from the May 21-27 severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides and/or mudslides, then you may want to visit a temporary Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster recovery center in Whitley County that will only be open this week.
The mobile disaster recovery center opened Monday, Aug. 12, and will remain open through Saturday, Aug. 17, at the Whitley County Cooperative Extension Office, which is located at 4275 North US25W, Williamsburg. It will be open from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. each of those days.
Whitley and Knox counties were included along with 13 other counties in a federal disaster declaration, which was approved by President Joe Biden on July 23.
The May 26-27 storms in Whitley County were likely straight-line winds that got up to about 90 mph and followed a similar path as the April 2 storm primarily going through north eastern Whitley County, said Whitley County Emergency Management Director Jerry Rains.
“It was more extensive than the April wind storm. It hit a lot of the same area, but it went further from Bee Creek all the way over to Highway 26 and Woodbine. From Eatontown Road over to Woodbine was one of the hardest areas we had hit,” Rains said. “We had a total of 27 homes that were damaged. Some of those were destroyed. Some were major. Some were minor. It was all across the board.”
In addition to the Whitley County damage, the National Weather Service in Jackson confirmed a brief EF-1 tornado on May 26 that spun-up near the Legacy Chevrolet dealership near the Corbin bypass and US25E in Knox County and travelled less than one mile before dissipating between Lynn Camp High School and Lynn Camp Elementary School.
Rains encouraged anyone with damage to register with FEMA.
Although there is a temporary disaster recovery center open locally, it is not necessary to go to a center to apply for FEMA assistance.
Survivors can go online to disasterassistance.gov, call (800) 621-3362 or use the FEMA mobile app to apply. If you use a relay service, such as video relay, captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service.
Homeowners, renters, businesses, and nonprofit organizations can apply for long-term, low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to cover losses not fully compensated by insurance and other sources. Apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at sba.gov/disaster.
For the latest information on Kentucky’s recovery from the May 21-27 severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides and mudslides, please visit fema.gov/disaster/4804. Follow FEMA on X, formerly called Twitter, at x.com/femaregion4 and at facebook.com/fema.
For an accessible video about how to apply for FEMA assistance, please check this link at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZGpWI2RCNw.
As of Aug. 11, FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program has approved $1,116,854, consisting of $726,355 in Housing Assistance and $390,499 in Other Needs Assistance.
As of Aug. 11, the SBA has disbursed $49,000, in low-interest disaster loans to one homeowner affected by the May 21-27, severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides and mudslides.
