One month has passed since a total of 45 tornadoes and severe storms tore through ten states, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois. Over 90 people died, with 77 of those lost being from Kentucky, where the cities of Mayfield and Bowling Green were particularly devastated.
Image courtesy of The Washington Post.
On December 27, 2021, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear reported that 11,400 of his residents had been approved for more than $4.7 million in disaster assistance through FEMA. According to FEMA disaster declaration #4630 for Kentucky, $9.3M total has been approved for individual and household assistance in the state.
Recently, Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) benefits were approved for individuals working or residing in fourteen Kentucky counties. D-SNAP applications are open until January 12, 2022 for low-income families whose lives were impacted by the storms, and with more qualifying issues than the standard SNAP benefits.
The U.S. Department of Labor approved up to $25 million to assist Kentucky workers who temporarily or permanently lost their jobs as a result of the storm. The deadline to apply for such assistance is January 18. Kentucky leadership has consolidated these and additional tornado response resources for those affected in a single webpage.
Local relief efforts have also seen success, with the Mayfield Community Foundation in Kentucky raising $625,000 for their local community. Schnucks Markets, which has most of its locations in four of the affected states, donated $125,000 to the American Red Cross with the help of customer and company support.
FEMA maintains resource pages with relevant information for those affected, including in-depth information on applying for and using disaster assistance funds:
ISD offers the following resources for those impacted by the Midwest tornadoes:
Tornado Path and Affected Areas Maps from the City-County Planning Commission in Bowling Green, KY
Midwest Tornadoes: Early-Stage Disaster Management Advice for Community Leaders:
