President Declares Disaster for Commonwealth of Kentucky

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to the Commonwealth of Kentucky to supplement commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the area affected by the severe winter storms, snowstorms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides during the period of February 15-22, 2015.

The President’s action makes federal funding available to commonwealth and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by severe winter storms, snowstorms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides in Boyd, Boyle, Caldwell, Clark, Estill, Floyd, Harlan, Jackson, Jessamine, Knott, Knox, Lawrence, Lee, Letcher, Lyon, Marshall, Menifee, Metcalfe, Morgan, Pendleton, Perry, Pike, Powell, Simpson, Taylor, Washington, and Wolfe counties.

In addition, federal funding is available to commonwealth and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for snow assistance for a continuous 48 hour period during or proximate to the incident period in the counties of Boyd, Boyle, Caldwell, Estill, Floyd, Jackson, Jessamine, Knott, Lawrence, Lee, Lyon, Menifee, Morgan, Pike, Powell, Simpson, Taylor, Washington, and Wolfe.

Federal funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures throughout the commonwealth.

Jose M. Girot has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.  Girot said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the commonwealth and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications. 

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

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President Declares Disaster for Commonwealth of Kentucky

Help Continues: Students Involved in SR 530 Slide Recovery

Students have been helping with the SR 530 Slide recovery. One example is in Mill Creek, Wash., where a broadcast team of seven students from Henry M. Jackson High School produced one of the first newscasts that told the story of the SR 530 Slide. The newscast was produced for the high school’s news network as a way of increasing media awareness among younger audiences, said Zachary Anders, who is part of the broadcast team.

“I believe our coverage reached the younger audience simply by us students covering it, and for those of our age being able to relate to us,” he said. “Many of the students I talked to told us they ignored the coverage by CNN and NBC, or that they don’t watch the news at all.”

To view their newscast, click: http://youtu.be/LEesplF7l9Y.

Another example of student involvement in SR 530 Slide recovery is in Edmonds, Wash. Two Edmonds Community College students, Rob Matthews and Quincy Powell, are volunteering their skills to help survivors recover their memories from computer hard drives, flash drives and SD cards that were damaged as a result of the SR 530 Slide.

“I want to help the survivors by giving them back something they thought they had lost. Then they can maybe begin the healing process and get some remembrance and closure,” Matthews said.

Matthews, Powell and other students of the college are earning degrees in Information Security Technology and Data Recovery. They are working with members of the High Technology Crime Investigation Association to recover the data for free.

These are only a few examples of students helping with the SR 530 Slide recovery. There are many other ways to help. For more information about how to volunteer, click: www.uwsc.org/.

For more information on data recovery through Edmonds Community College, contact Rob Matthews at r.matthews1234@edmail.edcc.edu or Quincy Powell at q.powell6908@edmail.edcc.edu.

For details about what to do with a damaged hard drive, click: infosec.edcc.edu/OsoDataRecovery.html.

For more information on the SR 530 Slide, visit the Washington Emergency Management Division website at www.emd.wa.gov/activations/Activation.shtml or the FEMA website at www.fema.gov/.

The state of Washington and FEMA have been partnering in recovery since the SR 530 Slide. Those who were directly impacted by the slide may register for disaster assistance through June 2. Register online through midnight, Pacific Daylight Time or by phone by 7 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time.

To register online, click: www.DisasterAssistance.gov or m.fema.gov. To register by phone, call (800) 621-FEMA (3362). Survivors who use TTY should call (800) 462-7585 directly; those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS) may call (800) 621-3362. Survivors may call these toll-free telephone numbers to access the FEMA help line from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, seven days a week.

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Help Continues: Students Involved in SR 530 Slide Recovery