Gov. Andy Beshear said millions of dollars in federal funds will help reimburse the state and some counties for flooding in 2022 and last year.
Most of the $10.4 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency money Beshear announced Thursday will go to the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.
“From the 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky to flooding events in February and April of last year, the impacts were widespread and devastating, and these dollars will make a difference," Beshear said in a statement.
Emergency management will take $9.4 million to recover expenses incurred in deadly 2022 flooding in Eastern Kentucky.
Breathitt, Carroll and Owsley counties will receive some of the remainder for flooding in 2025, while Fort Boonesborough in Madison County will also receive part of the money.
Separately Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Water Resources Development Act, a routine infrastructure bill that includes flood control projects.
Rep. Hal Rogers of Somerset said the bill authorizes a flood control project along the Kentucky River in Beattyville and flood management studies of Elkhorn and Buckhorn lakes.
“We have largely protected communities from massive floods along the Cumberland River, the Big Sandy River and the Levisa Fork with flood walls, levies, tunnels and bridges,” Rogers said in a statement. “Now, with more flooding in the Kentucky River region, we must concentrate on protecting our people and our communities for future generations.”
The routine, bipartisan legislation now goes to the Senate.
