U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will provide Kentucky with $74,953,000 through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
Senator McConnell helped secure these funds for the Commonwealth by supporting legislation last year to fund the government.
Today’s CDBG-DR grant will help Kentucky recover from the several major disasters that occurred in the Commonwealth last year, including last December’s devastating tornado outbreak in Western Kentucky and the flooding in Eastern Kentucky last year.
The CDBG-DR program provides highly flexible funds for long-term recovery in communities affected by natural disasters. According to HUD, these funds can be used for a variety of purposes, including helping local governments cover their cost share of federal disaster recovery programs from other agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Highway Administration.
Communities can also use these funds to help rebuild and promote economic development.
“Natural disasters have pummeled Kentucky over the past year, causing devastation across our Commonwealth. I’ve maintained close contact with the local leaders coordinating our rebuilding efforts and have worked hard to support them at the federal level,” said Senator McConnell. “The Community Development Block Grant program plays an important role in helping communities fill funding gaps in their recovery efforts and I am incredibly pleased with today’s allocation. I will continue to look for more ways to support Kentuckians as they rebuild their homes and communities.”
“Senator McConnell has played an integral role in our recovery since tornadoes hit Hopkins County at the end of last year. He lobbied FEMA and other federal agencies to provide robust support for our rebuilding efforts and secured substantial resources in this year’s government funding bill. With today’s grant announcement, Senator McConnell has increased that support even further. I appreciate his consistent support for my community,” said Hopkins County Judge-Executive Jack
hitfield.
“From the beginning, we have been grateful for our federal government’s response. Now, we are overwhelmed by Senator McConnell’s commitment to help us cover the remaining costs of disaster recovery,” Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott said.
“When Senator McConnell visited Mayfield after December’s devastating tornadoes, he promised to ensure we had every federal resource possible to aid our recovery. Since then, he has kept his word, advocating on behalf of my community to federal agencies, providing aid through this year’s government funding bill, and now, helping us even more through his support of today's grant announcement. We are all thankful for the Senator’s work as we continue to rebuild our city,” said Mayfield Mayor Kathy O’Nan.
“In the months since last December’s tornado outbreak devastated my community, Senator McConnell has visited Warren County to meet with storm victims and local officials, pressed for an expansive federal response to the disaster, and helped secure millions of dollars to assist our rebuilding efforts. Today, Senator McConnell is deepening his support for our recovery by helping send millions in additional funding to affected communities. I am incredibly grateful for the Senator’s work and for his responsiveness to my constituents’ needs,” said Warren County 1st District Magistrate Doug Gorman.
Senator McConnell has played a key role in helping Kentuckians affected by last year’s disasters recover. Earlier this month, he secured significant resources in the Fiscal Year 2022 Government Funding bill to help affected communities, including requiring FEMA to increase federal disaster response funding from 75% to 90% of disaster costs. This increase in federal resources will immediately provide more than $20 million to communities impacted by previous disasters, including more than $800,000 in direct assistance to affected Kentuckians.
Senator McConnell visited several communities hit by last December’s tornadoes, which were the most destructive in the Commonwealth’s history. Along with the rest of Kentucky’s congressional delegation, the Senator supported the Governor’s multiple federal disaster relief requests to the President and created a web portal to help Kentuckians access federal resources. ■