Thursday, June 26, 2008
Committee Approves Several Eastern Kentucky Flood Control Projects.
.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (KY-05) announced today that a key committee in the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation this week that includes $9.425 million in federal funding for flood control efforts in southern and eastern Kentucky. Rogers secured the money in important funding bills for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Recent flooding in the Midwest is a critical reminder of the damage and destruction high waters and overtopped banks can cause. Our families and communities know this reality all too well. That is why I remain vigilant in pursuing these funds for our region,” stated Rogers. “Critical flood protection projects in our counties will receive the funding necessary to guard homes, insulate businesses, channel rivers, and reduce the potential for flood losses.”
The FY09 Energy & Water Appropriations bill provides $7 million for flood control and flood reduction activities along the Levisa and Tug forks of the Big Sandy and Cumberland Rivers. This includes funding for construction projects in the Town of Martin, the Cities of Cumberland and Middlesboro, the community of Clover Fork, as well as Harlan, Martin, Bell and Pike Counties. Funding will also be made available to continue studies in Floyd, Knox, Johnson, and Whitley Counties.
The FY09 Homeland Security Appropriations bill also contains $2.425 million for FEMA to conduct a pilot project with federal, state, and local stakeholders for regional flood mitigation including hardening of flood walls and levees, pump system refurbishment, and bridge modifications. The demonstration project affords FEMA opportunities to work and think progressively on existing Corps’ flood mitigation projects within the Cumberland and Big Sandy River watersheds.
These agency funding bills are scheduled to be considered by the full House of Representatives later this summer. Rogers works to obtain federal funding for projects across southern and eastern Kentucky in his role as a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.
“Recent flooding in the Midwest is a critical reminder of the damage and destruction high waters and overtopped banks can cause. Our families and communities know this reality all too well. That is why I remain vigilant in pursuing these funds for our region,” stated Rogers. “Critical flood protection projects in our counties will receive the funding necessary to guard homes, insulate businesses, channel rivers, and reduce the potential for flood losses.”
The FY09 Energy & Water Appropriations bill provides $7 million for flood control and flood reduction activities along the Levisa and Tug forks of the Big Sandy and Cumberland Rivers. This includes funding for construction projects in the Town of Martin, the Cities of Cumberland and Middlesboro, the community of Clover Fork, as well as Harlan, Martin, Bell and Pike Counties. Funding will also be made available to continue studies in Floyd, Knox, Johnson, and Whitley Counties.
The FY09 Homeland Security Appropriations bill also contains $2.425 million for FEMA to conduct a pilot project with federal, state, and local stakeholders for regional flood mitigation including hardening of flood walls and levees, pump system refurbishment, and bridge modifications. The demonstration project affords FEMA opportunities to work and think progressively on existing Corps’ flood mitigation projects within the Cumberland and Big Sandy River watersheds.
These agency funding bills are scheduled to be considered by the full House of Representatives later this summer. Rogers works to obtain federal funding for projects across southern and eastern Kentucky in his role as a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 10:53 PM 
