Tennessee’s Senators Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn, along with Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07), sent a letter to President Donald Trump Monday asking him to support Gov. Bill Lee’s federal aid request for a major disaster declaration.
“The storms that swept across the State of Tennessee beginning on October 26th cost two Tennesseans their lives, blew over seven commercial tractor-trailers, shutdown the Tennessee River Bridge on Interstate I-40 for several hours, left nearly 65,000 Tennesseans without power, and closed down nine school districts for nearly a week,” the letter states.
Last month, Lee petitioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to use its Public Assistance Program on 10 Tennessee counties that experienced almost $22 million in damage after Tropical Storm Olga hit.
During his announcement to seek federal disaster relief, Lee described how emergency workers worked “tirelessly” during the storm and how this money would help “lessen the financial burden” on Tennessee.
Lee said the relief would go to emergency work done “during and after the response.”
The Republican Congressional members’ letter “strongly urged” the president to considers Tennessee’s request “as soon as possible.”
According to the letter, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has worked with the FEMA since the beginning of the incident.
The ten counties requesting pubic assistance are Benton, Decatur, Hardin, Henderson, Houston, Humphreys, McNairy, Montgomery, Perry, and Wayne. Eight of these counties are below the federal poverty line.
Fox17 reported on damages each county experienced from the high winds.
“Montgomery County received the most damage with $4.09 million. It was followed by Decatur ($3.14 million), McNairy ($2.69 million), Hardin ($2.6 million), Humphreys ($2.41 million), Perry ($1.07 million), Henderson ($670,000), Houston ($500,000), and Benton ($280,000).”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Battleground State News. If you have any tips, email Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “Mark Green” by Mark Green.
