FEMA approves assistance for western Kentucky churches affected by flooding

MCLEAN COUNTY, Ky. (WEHT) — As disaster recovery continues following the April flooding in western Kentucky, the Federal Emergency Management has approved assistance for eligible houses of worship.

“It may give them the opportunity to get their doors back open to their community,” Daviess County Public Safety Director Jeremy Smith said. “Those that operate on a limited budget, it would afford them the opportunity to keep going because a lot of them are vital to the community.”

Some counties eligible for assistance include Daviess, Henderson, Union, Hopkins, Ohio, Webster and Mclean. McLean County officials say around 50% of the county was believed to be underwater with 60 county and state roads blocked due to high water. The town of Rumsey was only accessible by boat.

Kyle Stroud is a pastor at Knobbs God of Prophecy who says the flooding forced his congregants out of the building for several weeks. He says with many major events coming up, repairing areas of the building, including the basement, was crucial.

“It was completely cut off,” said Stroud. “You couldn’t get in and you couldn’t get out. We’re trying to get things done. So getting them here to pick up all of our trash that was out there and then we had Vacation Bible School on its way. So we wanted to make sure we were meeting all the deadlines so that was kind of aggravating.”

While the church was faced with several financial burdens from the flooding, Stroud says he is grateful to see FEMA open its doors for churches. But it is not something Stroud says he will jump into until discussing with his church community.

“There’s a lot of people living in poverty and a lot of people is going to benefit from any kind of funds that they could gain from anywhere,” Stroud said. “And FEMA being one of those.. I’m glad they’re stepping up to do that.”

At the end of the day, Stroud says the reason why his church stands strong is because of his community in McLean County.

Officials say nonprofit organizations can contact their local or county emergency management agency to learn more about obtaining FEMA Public Assistance. Click here for FEMA’s Public Assistance Policy Guide.