In response to recent disaster declarations across the state from early April’s tornadoes and floods, officials are urging superintendents in the Commonwealth to be prepared to apply for FEMA benefits.
Stephanie Robey is the Assistant Director of Kentucky Emergency Management. She said numerous types of damages covered by FEMA are not included in private insurance schools might invest in, so administrators need to be thorough when assessing needs in their community’s recovery.
“So often, if you’ve had a flood or you’ve had a bad wind event, you’re going to have lots on debris on your property. There’s FEMA funding to remove debris,” said Robey. “You also have to look at things like did your access roads become damaged, did you lose drainage facilities on your property?”
Robey added that culverts, building damages, and equipment costs like buses aren’t always covered by a school’s private insurance, but they are accounted for in FEMA. Also, many school systems miss out on critical FEMA funding because its purpose isn’t always obvious.
“Often, we are told, we don’t need FEMA, we have insurance. Well, there are lots of things that your insurance won’t cover that FEMA will. The greatest example I can think of would be football fields and baseball fields, your facilities that are surrounded with a chain link fence or dugouts,” said Robey.
School officials, alongside other Kentuckians, impacted by both February and April’s storms are encouraged to carefully document what damages were caused by each disaster instead of lumping them together. Robey said this way, federal agencies are better able to distribute the emergency funding accurately and fairly.
Administrators and other Kentucky residents can stay informed about disaster declarations and relief efforts at kentucky.gov or fema.gov.