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 the Knox County portion of Corbin that will only be open this week.
The mobile disaster recovery center opened Monday, Aug. 5, and will remain open through Saturday, Aug. 10, at Redline Fire Truck Sales, which is located at 14453 N. US25E. 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.
Kentucky homeowners and renters in Whitley, Knox, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Christian, Clay, Greenup, Hopkins, Logan, Muhlenberg, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, and Warren counties can apply for FEMA assistance at any of the disaster recovery centers in Kentucky. FEMA representatives will help with applications for federal assistance and provide information about other disaster recovery resources.
FEMA financial assistance may include money for basic home repairs or other uninsured, disaster-related needs, such as childcare, transportation, medical needs, funeral or dental expenses.
In addition to FEMA personnel, representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration and agencies from the Commonwealth will be available to assist survivors.
Although there is a 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.
