Day two of the Kentucky General Assembly’s special session began late Thursday afternoon, with the House, Senate and Governor Andy Beshear honing in on a $212 million relief package for eastern Kentucky’s flood zone.
During his “Team Kentucky” update, Beshear said simply: “Things are going well.”
With this conclave expected to go through late Friday afternoon, Beshear said these monies — if approved — will go above and beyond the expectations of relief coming from FEMA and other organizations, in which infrastructure in nine counties needs to be brought back to livable standards.
Eastern Kentucky’s maladies aren’t the only subject on the docket, either. Beshear said some financial extensions could be coming to west Kentucky, as well, following December’s devastation.
More than 15,900 tons of debris have been removed from state and county rights-of-way, and more than 1,600 tons of debris have been removed from east Kentucky waterways.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund had received more than $8 million from a combined 35,000-plus donors. The fund has paid for all 39 funerals at a cost of $390,000. Beshear announced Thursday that the next phase for these funds is to issue a $500 payment to all uninsured homeowners and renters, above and beyond whatever FEMA provides.
The recent Kentucky Bourbon Benefit, which auctioned rare and private selections of spirits, raised more than $1.4 million in auctions, and another $275,000 in member donations to the relief fund.
