‘Still in life-saving mode’: FEMA chief considers additional flood relief

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell FEMA administrator said Friday that she’s considering requesting more federal assistance for individual Kentuckians who lost family members and homes in the week’s catastrophic flooding.

“If we feel there is enough information to make that recommendation to the president, I would be making that later this afternoon,” Criswell told McClatchyDC in a phone interview as she wrapped up her visit to the commonwealth.

President Joe Biden issued a federal disaster declaration on Friday morning as a result of the deadly flooding that has pummeled Eastern Kentucky. That will largely cover the overtime costs for governments that are still operating continuous search and rescue missions.

But after meeting with Gov. Andy Beshear as well as her team on the ground and finishing an aerial assessment of some of the counties impacted, Criswell began evaluating the need for additional assistance to individuals.

“We’re still in life-saving mode. We still don’t have everybody accounted for,” she said. “We saw many homes that are still submerged, that the water has not receded yet. I was able to see some homes that …you can see were impacted as the water came down. I also saw a lot of roads that were damaged and bridges that were damaged so there’s going to be some individuals that have access issues, so they’re going to be displaced until either the water recedes and/or some of the roads and bridges are repaired.”

Criswell returned to Washington on Friday afternoon but a team of 150 FEMA employees are on the ground to continue to coordinate with local and state officials on relief efforts.

She said after she makes a determination on individual assistance, FEMA will consider an additional request for long-term infrastructure repairs. But that is likely to take weeks.

She did not provide an estimate of how much the entire disaster would cost.

“Until we can get out there and assess, kind of the level of impact to the critical infrastructure, things that really cost the most, then we’ll have a better idea of what it might cost,” she said.

This story was originally published July 29, 2022 at 3:30 PM with the headline "‘Still in life-saving mode’: FEMA chief considers additional flood relief."

David Catanese

McClatchy DC

202-383-6102

David Catanese is a national political correspondent for McClatchy in Washington. He’s covered campaigns for more than a decade, previously working at U.S. News & World Report and Politico. Prior to that he was a television reporter for NBC affiliates in Missouri and North Dakota. You can send tips, smart takes and critiques to dcatanese@mcclatchydc.com.