Family members of Kathy Kinney gather around her in a vehicle near her home at Ramsey Mobile Home Park following rain storms that caused flooding on February 17, 2025 in Pikeville. Severe winter storms brought torrential rains causing intense flooding in Kentucky and parts of Florida and Georgia. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Kentucky is still waiting on President Donald Trump to approve expedited disaster assistance to flood survivors and local governments after widespread damage from flooding, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.
“We’re at the point now where we really need a signature on that declaration because, you know, people are hurting.”
Beshear also said the weather-related death toll had reached 22 in Kentucky. The latest victim is a man in Marshall County who died of hypothermia, Beshear said.
All eight members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation last week sent Trump a letter urging him to approve Behsear’s Feb. 17 request for an expedited major disaster declaration.
Beshear said by this point after earlier disasters, assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency had helped Kentuckians obtain supplies to clean up flooded buildings and fight mold. Individuals also can be eligible for up to $43,600 in assistance through FEMA. “Without it, you’re going to see people not just harmed but devastated,” Beshear said.
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Local governments need FEMA assistance to repair millions of dollars of flood damage to roads and water systems, said Beshear.
“The clock’s really ticking right now,” Beshear said.
Beshear said acting FEMA director Cameron Hamilton is scheduled to tour flood-damaged areas in Kentucky Tuesday.
Beshear noted that this Trump administration is still in its early weeks. “We’re just one of the first instances under a new administration that I hope is just looking through all the guidelines and everything else. And at the end of the day, they’ll come through. And if they do, they’ll get a big thank you from me,” Beshear said.
Trump quickly approved an emergency declaration after flooding swept Kentucky beginning on Feb. 14.
Beshear said the president must issue another order before FEMA can take the next step. “Actually getting FEMA members out into our communities to provide direct assistance requires a signature on this declaration,” Beshear said.
Trump has criticized FEMA and even talked about disbanding it. He has established a 20-member committee to review the agency and propose ways to overhaul its work.
Beshear on Monday said Kentucky “couldn’t have made it” through multiple disasters during his five years as governor without federal assistance. He said he didn’t think enough help had flowed through FEMA but “we still had tens of millions of dollars going directly to families (and) even more than that coming over to the state.”