Medical, Dental and Funeral Assistance for Survivors of May Tornadoes in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. – If you sustained injury, illness or death of a loved one due to the severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes from May 16-17 in Kentucky, you may be eligible for medical, dental and/or funeral assistance from FEMA.

Medical/dental assistance can help cover uninsured expenses for medical care related to disaster-caused injury or illness. This funding can also be used to help replace medical/dental equipment, breastfeeding equipment or prescribed medicine damaged or lost due to the severe storms and tornadoes.

If you had funeral or burial expenses because of the severe storms and tornadoes of May 16-17, funeral assistance may be available from FEMA.

Eligible Funeral Expenses

FEMA’s Other Needs Assistance (ONA) program provides assistance with certain eligible disaster-caused funeral expenses. 

Eligible expenses may include cost of transfer of remains, casket or urn, funeral services, death certificates, burial plot, cremation, interment, cost of reinterment if disinterment is caused by the disaster, and/or occurs in a family cemetery on private property. 

Eligibility Criteria for Funeral Assistance

To verify eligibility, FEMA will need:

• An official state-issued death certificate or a signed statement from a medical examiner, coroner or other certifier stating that the death was directly or indirectly related to the disaster.
• Evidence of an unmet funeral expense – a receipt or verifiable estimates for funeral expenses that indicate the applicant incurred, or will incur, eligible interment, reinterment or funeral expenses.

Confirmation that funeral expenses have not been paid using other resources. By law, FEMA cannot provide you a grant when any other source – Social Security or Veterans Affairs benefits – has covered expenses for the same disaster-related need.

How To Apply for FEMA Assistance

To request medical/dental or funeral assistance you must first apply with FEMA. Survivors in Caldwell, Laurel, Pulaski, Russell, Trigg and Union counties who have disaster-caused damage or loss from the May tornadoes can apply for federal disaster assistance under the major disaster declaration DR-4875 in several ways: 

• Online at DisasterAssistance.gov.
• Visit any Disaster Recovery Center. To find a center close to you, visit fema.gov/DRC, or text DRC along with your Zip Code to 43362 (Example: “DRC 29169”).
• Use the FEMA mobile app.
• Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. It is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Help is available in many languages. If you use a relay service, such as Video Relay Service (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service.

FEMA works with every household on a case-by-case basis.

For more information about Kentucky tornado recovery, visit www.fema.gov/disaster/4875. Follow the FEMA Region 4 X account at x.com/femaregion4.