Gov. Beshear: Flood relief fund closes in on $10 million raised, search to continue for missing women in Breathitt County

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WYMT) - Gov. Andy Beshear held his weekly Team Kentucky news conference on Thursday.

You can watch it below:

During the briefing, the governor shared the following updates in regards to ongoing Eastern Kentucky flood relief efforts:

Missing Persons

Kentucky Emergency Management and the Kentucky State Police (KSP) are continuing search efforts to locate two missing Breathitt County women: 60-year-old Vanessa Baker and 29-year-old Nancy Cundiff, both from the Lost Creek community. If you have any information about either of these individuals, please contact KSP Post 13 in Hazard at 606-435-6069.

Water Outages

All drinking water systems are now operational; 22 systems were down immediately after the flooding. There are 32 service connections without water, down from 34,121 on July 28. More than 330 customers remain under a boil water advisory, down from 46,000. The Village of Buckhorn lifted a portion of their boil water advisory, which includes the Buckhorn Lake State Park Lodge. Four wastewater systems are not operational: Fleming-Neon, Millstone Alternative, Buckhorn Elementary and High Schools and Robinson Elementary School.

Shelters and Travel Trailers

Local organizations including state parks, churches and schools are providing shelter to survivors. Kentucky state parks are currently housing more than 331 people. Right now, 409 individuals are in 149 travel trailers across seven state parks. There are 248 travel trailers onsite. So far, 16 individuals have transitioned out of the Commonwealth Sheltering Program, which means they have found more permanent housing. Individuals who need to take shelter in travel trailers can find more information and register at governor.ky.gov/FloodResources or call 502-234-1225. Seventeen people are living in six hotels in Eastern Kentucky.

Debris

Another 523 loads of debris, amounting to 7,928 tons, were removed on Wednesday from waterways and state and county rights-of-way. To date, 225,253 tons of debris have been removed from state and county rights-of-way and waterways.

FEMA

More than $71 million in grants has been approved under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Individuals and Households Program for 7,610 households. In addition to visiting a Disaster Recovery Center, Kentuckians can also apply through FEMA at DisasterAssistance.gov, on their mobile app or by calling 800-621-3362. There are six fixed Disaster Recovery Centers now open. To see the locations, visit governor.ky.gov/FloodResources.

Private Bridges

KYTC has identified 854 private crossings within the flood-impacted counties in Eastern Kentucky. More than 730 of these bridges have been assessed for damage by a team that includes representatives from FEMA and KYTC. So far, 40 bridges have been approved by FEMA for emergency repair funding.

New Legal Actions

On Sept. 15, the Governor sent a request to FEMA to extend the registration period for the Individuals and Households Assistance program for an additional 30 days. If approved, the deadline will be Oct. 29.

Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund

Flood survivors that qualify for FEMA are eligible for an additional $500 from the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund. To date, the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief fund has raised over $9.7 million from over 37,000 donors. The Governor also highlighted and thanked the Kelly Clarkson Show, which donated $20,000. Donations can be made at TeamEKYFloodReliefFund.ky.gov.