Additional Federal Assistance Awarded to Tennessee Counties Recovering from December 2021 Tornadoes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced this morning that FEMA will make its Public Assistance program available to 13 Tennessee counties to rebuild, repair, and restore facilities and services impacted in the deadly tornado outbreak on Dec. 10, and Dec. 11, 2021.

“We remain focused on our priority of ensuring necessary resources are available to help individuals and communities in our tornado-devastated counties are on their way to a swift recovery,” Gov. Lee said.

The Tennessee counties eligible for FEMA’s PA program, under the current Major Disaster Declaration are Cheatham, Davidson, Decatur, Dickson, Dyer, Gibson, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Obion, Stewart, Sumner, and Weakley.

FEMA’s PA program will allow the designated counties to seek reimbursement for permanent work required as a result of the disaster.  This work can include removing debris, repairing roads, restoring utilities, and rebuilding public facilities.

More information on FEMA’s PA program is available at fema.gov/assistance/public/program-overview.

Additionally, registration remains open for individuals in Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Gibson, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Obion, Stewart, Sumner, Weakley, and Wilson counties seeking direct assistance through FEMA’s Individual Assistance program.

Individuals can apply for FEMA’s IA program:

1.       Online at DisasterAssistance.gov; or,

2.       By phone at 1-800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585).

FEMA’s application phone number is available from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., Central, and multilingual operators are available.

Tennessee experienced two lines of severe weather on Dec. 10, and Dec. 11, 2021, as a mass of warm, unstable air moved across the state. The storms produced 24 tornadoes across west and middle Tennessee, claimed five lives, and left more than 150,000 people without power at the severe weather’s peak.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has a recovery web page available to help storm survivors find resources and support.

About the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency: TEMA’s mission is to coordinate preparedness, response and recovery from man-made, natural and technological hazards in a professional and efficient manner in concert with our stakeholders. Follow TEMA on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and, at www.tn.gov/tema.

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