KC Reporter

Governor Mike Kehoe announced that President Donald J. Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for five counties in southwest Missouri. This decision comes in response to severe weather conditions, including storms, straight-line winds, hail, heavy rains, and flooding over Memorial Day weekend from May 23-26. This marks the fifth major disaster declaration for Missouri since March.

"For the past four months, communities across Missouri have been heavily damaged by continuing severe storms, with some of the most devastated areas affected once again by this four-day severe weather event," Governor Kehoe stated. "I spoke personally with President Trump last night, and we appreciate his approval of this federal assistance, which will provide millions of dollars to assist in rebuilding infrastructure that is vital to the recovery of the impacted communities."

The FEMA Public Assistance program will now be available to local governments and qualifying nonprofits for repairing and restoring damaged roads, bridges, and other public infrastructure. It also includes reimbursement for emergency response costs in Dade, Douglas, Ozark, Vernon, and Webster counties.

Governor Kehoe had requested the federal disaster declaration on June 21 after joint Preliminary Damage Assessments conducted earlier in June estimated damage and response costs at more than $13.5 million.

The previous four federal Major Disaster Declarations during Governor Kehoe's term include:

- March 14 - 15 Storms: FEMA Individual and Public Assistance

- March 30 - April 8 Storms: FEMA Public Assistance

- April 29 Storms: FEMA Public Assistance and Small Business Administration Assistance

- May 16 Storms: FEMA Individual and Public Assistance

For further information on the federal disaster declaration process or resources about disaster recovery in Missouri, visit recovery.mo.gov.