Memphis Standard

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today wrote to Governor Bill Lee urging him to seek federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for damage done by high winds since Sunday. Congressman Cohen noted that the minimum threshold has been far exceeded with millions of dollars in damage already reported.

The letter reads in part:

“I strongly urge you to request assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)...for Shelby County in response to the recent storms that hit our region starting on June 25, 2023. These extreme storms included wind gusts of 80-90 miles per hour, which resulted in widespread damage to trees and utilities, and left 122,000 residents without power.

“In its latest release, Memphis, Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) reported that 34,848 customers were without power due to 633 outages. To exacerbate matters, the National Weather Service placed several counties, including Shelby County, under an excessive heat warning from Thursday, June 29 to Friday, June 30.

“As of June 28, the preliminary damage estimate provided to the West Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) by Shelby County is $25 million including $11 million from MLGW, five million from the City of Millington and four million from the City of Bartlett.

“Since the amount of damage from this storm has already exceeded the minimum requirement, I believe a swift request of disaster assistance is prudent to ensure that our county can receive the necessary support to adequately address the damages that have been incurred.”

See the entire letter here.

Original source can be found here.