All 11 members of the Tennessee congressional delegation sent a letter to President Joe Biden requesting the “swift approval” of Governor Bill Lee’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration due to severe storms that devastated communities across the Volunteer State last month.
On May 8 and May 9, several rounds of significant severe weather impacted 13 Tennessee counties, causing three fatalities and damage to 459 homes in Tennessee.
A total of 137 homes affected by the storms were destroyed or suffered major damage.
If granted, the governor’s Major Disaster Declaration would make federal individual assistance available to Cannon, Giles, Maury Robertson, Rutherford, and Sumner counties and federal public assistance available to Cannon, Cheatham, Giles, Hamilton, Jackson, Macon, Maury, Montgomery, Polk, Smith, Sumner, and Warren counties.
The Tennesse federal lawmakers amplified the governor’s request, writing in a letter to President Joe Biden, “We write to urge swift approval of Governor Bill Lee’s request for a major disaster declaration pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act due to severe weather that occurred on May 8-9, 2024.”
“Our offices can provide you with any additional information you need,” the lawmakers added.
The letter was led by U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who was joined by U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and U.S. Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Tim Burchett (R-TN-02), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04), Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), John Rose (R-TN-06), Mark Green (R-TN-07), David Kustoff (R-TN-08), and Steve Cohen (D-TN-09).
Lee specifically requested disaster assistance from two programs: individual assistance and public assistance.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Individual Assistance program may help with “rental assistance, home repair and personal property replacement, in addition to other uninsured or underinsured disaster losses.”
The FEMA Public Assistance program reimburses jurisdictions and certain private, non-profit organizations for “emergency work and uninsured infrastructure repair, such as debris removal, utilities restoration and repair, and eligible costs of responding to the emergency.”
“Federal disaster assistance will bring much-needed economic relief and resources to help our communities and fellow Tennesseans recover from the devastation of these storms,” Lee said in a statement.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Tornado Damage” by American Red Cross of Tennessee.
