President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration, ordering federal aid to support local recovery efforts in Humphreys County following Saturday’s catastrophic floods.
Gov. Bill Lee sent in a request for expedited federal support on Monday. Assistance includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help residents and businesses recover. Damage assessments are ongoing, and other counties may become eligible for federal assistance once those are complete.
Residents may begin applying fo help online beginning Wednesday at DisasterAssistance.gov.
Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis tells NPR’s “Morning Edition” that more than 100 homes had been either ripped from their foundations or “just no longer exist.” He estimates even more structures have sustained serious damage. “We’re in the hundreds of houses, hundreds of homes, hundreds of families that this has … displaced.”
“It’s very devastating,” Davis says.
On Tuesday afternoon, local officials revised their death total to 18 confirmed fatalities, four fewer than previously reported. Waverly Police Chief Grant Gillespie said the previous tally had included two people who died of natural causes and two who were double counted.
“It’s been a little hectic, a little chaotic, new to a lot of us,” he says.
Three people are still missing.
Tasha Lemley WPLN NewsDebra Ashton fills out a form at a mobile driver’s license center set up in McEwan to help victims of flash flooding get new identification.
New service offered
Starting Tuesday, the state’s Driver Services division has a mobile unit in McEwen to help flood survivors get new licenses and photo IDs. Similar services were deployed after last year’s tornado outbreak and the 2016 wildfire in Gatlinburg.
“When you apply for any type of assistance, you’re going to need to show some type of documentation as far as proof of identification,” said Paula Shaw, an assistant commissioner at the state Department Safety and Homeland Security. “If that’s not available to you or that’s something you have lost, it’s the very first kind of document you need to obtain.”
That’s happening from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday at McEwen High School, where the state is also operating its reunification center.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service says carriers are attempting mail delivery in areas where they can do so safely. Displaced people are encouraged to place their mail on hold or to temporarily change their address — services that can be accessed at usps.com.
Mail is otherwise being held at Waverly Post Office, 403 W. Main St., or at whichever local post office serves the damaged address.
Beware of scams
Meanwhile, state officials are warning people who want to help to be cautious of scammers. Often during a natural disaster, bad actors try to capitalize on the outpouring from the community.
Before donating to any nonprofit, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett says check to see if the charity is registered online with his office. Also, for paid fundraisers, make sure to ask how much of the collected funds make it to the nonprofit organization. Hargett’s office is where people can make reports of potential storm-related scams.
Federal authorities are also warning that they will take a “zero tolerance” approach to fraud in the disaster area.
For more information on how to help recovery efforts, visit this this post.
Update: A previous version of this story said 22 people had been confirmed dead. Officials revised that number to 18 on Tuesday afternoon.
WPLN’s Chas Sisk and Tasha Lemley contributed to this report.
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