By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Governor Andy Beshear recently announced that Barren County was one of the 30 counties approved for public assistance.
Earlier this month, Barren County Emergency Manager Garland Gilliam said he had taken some state and federal personnel around the county to verify the damages Gilliam was reporting. The visit confirmed Barren County met its threshold of $209,000 and thus qualified for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Gilliam explained that public assistance was different than individual assistance, which was extended to 14 Kentucky counties.
“Public assistance is anything owned by a city or county,” Gilliam said.
According to FEMA, public assistance “provides supplemental grants to state [,] local governments and certain types of nonprofits so communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters,” whereas individual assistance “benefits survivors directly” with such things like housing assistance.
In February, Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd declared a state of emergency and said at the time that the declaration was primarily for roadway repair and maintenance, which Gilliam said fell under the purview of public assistance.
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