Keith Turi from FEMA speaks to AccuWeather about how they are assisting in recovery with the severe flooding in Kentucky.
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00:00We want to get to the recovery efforts that are continuing after this weekend's deadly flooding
00:05in Kentucky. Keith Atturi is the Acting Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery at FEMA.
00:14He joins us live from Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for joining us today, sir.
00:19Thanks for having me.
00:21And what is the situation on the ground? What urgent needs are FEMA
00:25representatives seeing in Kentucky?
00:27Yeah, still an active response that's ongoing in Kentucky based on the flooding that happened
00:33over the weekend. Obviously, a serious situation that occurred and impacting the residents in that
00:38area. FEMA was on the ground in the hours before the impact started, and we've been supporting our
00:43state and local partners who have the lead in the response since then. At this point in time,
00:48the smaller streams are starting to recede. Some of the major rivers may still have some crests,
00:53but we are in an area of moving towards stabilization, and that includes having
00:58over 500 folks that are in shelters and also power outages that are starting to come down.
01:03So, positive news in the response overall, but as you do know, there is a winter storm coming
01:07to that area, and so we really need people in the area to make sure they listen to their
01:11local officials and stay safe as we move through this response and into recovery.
01:16And what kinds of federal assistance is available to Kentucky residents impacted by the floods?
01:23So, the President declared an emergency declaration as the floods were happening. That
01:26gives us the ability to bring in federal resources, such as our search and rescue teams. We brought in
01:31three federal search and rescue teams into the area for them to be able to support those efforts
01:36and make sure the state and locals have everything they need to respond. The Governor also requested
01:41a major disaster declaration just today. We'll be processing that as quickly as possible,
01:47and that may bring additional assistance for individual survivors. My advice to those
01:51survivors would be document any damage you have, take pictures of any damage you have,
01:56and so at what point additional resources may be available, then you can certainly apply for those.
02:02How do citizens apply for FEMA aid, and can you give us an estimation on the timeline for
02:06assistance? Yeah, so there is not a declaration at this point for aid, but if it does become
02:12available, you can go to disasterassistance.gov to register or use the FEMA app. Again, that'll
02:18be something that should be coming in the coming days if that's warranted through our process of
02:23assessing with the state, and so that's still an ongoing process, but on FEMA's website you can
02:28find all the information you need to be able to register if a declaration is made, and it's also
02:33available on disasterassistance.gov. And how is FEMA working with local officials to help people
02:40in need? Yeah, all responses start at the local level, managed by the state, and the federal
02:45government's role is to support them, backstop them for resources that they need, so we brought
02:50in resources to be embedded in the state emergency operations center and coordinating with those
02:55local officials so that if they need something, we're able to provide it. For example, as I said,
02:59we did bring in three additional federal search and rescue teams right in the height of the of
03:03the storm to make sure they had all the resources and assets they need. So our role is a supportive
03:08one, making sure that those resources are available if they're required, and that's where we're well
03:13positioned to do. Keith Toreacting, Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery at FEMA,
03:18thank you so much for joining us. Great, thank you.