East Tennessee Receives Major Disaster Declaration

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced approval of an Expedited Major Disaster Declaration, making recovery assistance available to eight counties.

The Tennessee counties named in the Expedited Major Disaster Declaration are Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi, and Washington.

Damage assessments remain in progress and additional requests will be made to the federal government.

This disaster declaration includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance Emergency Work Categories A and B, Individual Assistance (IA), Hazard Mitigation Grant, and Direct Federal Assistance.

Individuals in the declared counties can now apply for direct assistance through FEMA’s IA program online anytime or by phone at 1-800-621-3362 between 6am until 10pm CDT.

Those eligible for FEMA’s IA program may receive help with rental assistance, home repair, and personal property replacement, in addition to other uninsured or underinsured disaster losses.