NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We don't want to forget our neighbors in Northeast Tennessee, after the devastating flooding that took place in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
We are getting updates from FEMA regularly on what recovery efforts are underway — the latest one is from Monday, October 14. Here's what we know.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services is officially offering Disaster Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (D-SNAP) benefits to households in Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington counties.
Pre-registration is open until Thursday Oct. 16 at 4:30 p.m. ET, all you have to do is visit the One DHS Customer Portal. After that, applications will open up again Oct. 21 through 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday, October 25, 2024.
The number of deaths still sits at 17, two in Cocke County, one in Greene County, one in Knox County, one in Johnson County, eight in Unicoi County and four in Washington County.
Water and wastewater are still having significant issues in many areas, with 17 drinking water facilities reporting issues as of October 14. Ten out of those 17 facilities issued a boil water advisory.
There are a myriad of active emergency groups working to help Tennessee recover — Emergency Services Coordinators (ESCs) from TDOT, TDCI, TDH, THP, TN Department of Human Services, TN Department of Military, according to FEMA's report.
If you or a loved one doesn't know where to look for help yet, the website to check back into is Tennessee Emergency Management Agency's page, where you can find phone numbers, applications for relief funds, volunteering, and more.
Do you have more information about this that you can share with me? You can email me at hannah.urban@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
