The agency said those counties did not meet the criteria for aid.
FEMA has denied assistance to eight Kentucky counties affected by flooding in February.
In a letter to Gov. Andy Beshear, the federal agency said that Butler, Franklin, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, and Whitley counties were denied Individual Assistance based on preliminary damage assessments.
“In addition, it has been determined that the impact to the infrastructure in Simpson and Woodford Counties is not of the severity and magnitude to warrant their designation under the Public Assistance program,” the letter stated.
Besher said the state plans to appeal the decisions, which he called concerning in a news briefing on Thursday. FEMA recently denied disaster assistance to some counties in West Virginia and the state of Arkansas.
Kentucky received an Expedited Major Disaster Declaration for the February flooding, which allows some level of public assistance for local governments in 68 counties and individual assistance for Kentuckians in 16 counties.
As of April 21, FEMA had approved $36 million for more than 6,000 Kentucky households impacted by storms in February. The funding is for Individual Assistance to cover costs related to housing, the replacement of personal property, and medical expenses.
Several of the counties denied FEMA aid from February’s severe weather, including Butler Co., were impacted by another round of flooding in April.
Judge Executive Tim Flener said he believes Butler Co. will qualify for assistance from this month’s storms.
“We had somewhere in the neighborhood between 25 to 28 homes that were affected in some way or another by the flood,” Flener said. “I mean, they had a lot of water that got in them, and a couple of them are not gonna be able to be repaired.”
The state requested a Major Disaster Declaration from President Donald Trump for the April storms and is still waiting to hear if that request will be approved.
The governor requested Individual Assistance for 13 counties and Public Assistance and Direct Federal Assistance for 33 counties.
“I’ve seen enough of these where I know that we have sustained enough damage in that April flooding, for not just the initial counties that we applied for, but for many more to receive that aid, and our people are counting on the president to sign that declaration so they can get the help they need,” Beshear said in his Thursday news briefing.
