How tornado victims can get housing, package deliveries, insurance, FEMA resources, laundry services, find lost pets

(KFVS) – As cleanup and recovery efforts continue in the Heartland from tornadoes and severe storms on Friday, December 10, local, state and federal assistance is becoming available.

This includes help with temporary housing, filing insurance claims and registering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Plans have also been made to help victims get medication and packages they would normally get at their addresses.

Food/clothing/personal items

If you were affected by the tornado and need clothing or personal items, you can stop by Central Elementary School, 115 Jim Goheen Dr. in Benton, Ky. between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

O’Charley’s in Mayfield will be passing out free food starting at 6 a.m. until it runs out on Tuesday, Dec. 14.

The Walmart Supercenter at 1225 Paris Road in Mayfield has a mobile grill set up and is preparing warm meals.

Operation BBQ Relief is serving the Mayfield community, providing hot BBQ meals daily at Lowe’s Home Improvement, 1208C Paris Rd. in Mayfield. Individual lunch pickup starting at 11:30 a.m. on a first-come, first-serve basis. They’re also offering bulk meal orders. If your organization, church or school is in need of meals, you can call their food order hotline at 386-222-2756. All orders need to be placed in increments of 50. They say clamshells and utensils are not provided. Meal orders need to be placed by 5 p.m. for the next day to be guaranteed. Any orders placed “day of” will be filled accordingly to capacity that is already on the books. Bulk meal pickup will be at Trace Creek Baptist Church, 3577 KY 131 in Mayfield. Lunch will be 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

All Marshall Co. school cafeterias, except for the high school cafeteria, will be open the week of Monday, Dec. 13 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to provide for anyone in need of a meal. You can eat in the cafeteria or they will make a meal to-go.

Marcella’s Kitchen, 868 Guy Mathis Dr. in Benton, Ky. will be providing hot food starting on Monday, Dec. 13.

Zion’s Cause will also have meals. They are located at 1532 U.S. 68 in Benton, Ky.

If you need water, you can bring empty containers to Memorial Park in Calvert City.

Free clothing is available at J & K Varieties in Possum Trot, Ky., as well as the Exceptional Center Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Morgan & Morgan has a supply-filled RV stationed at Walmart, 1225 Paris Rd. in Mayfield, distributing items such as food, clothing, blankets, socks, toiletries and personal hygiene products to those in need.

The World Central Kitchen arrived to western Kentucky on Saturday and started providing meals that same day. As of Tuesday, they are operating six sites with food trucks, including:

• Hurrikane’s: Splitting time between First Baptist Church (960 Industrial Park Road, Dawson Springs KY) and Landmark Apostolic Holiness Church (590 Industrial Park Road, Dawson Springs KY).
• Jus Burgers & Let’s Get Fried: Dawson Springs High School (317 Eli Street, Dawson Springs KY)
• Chicago Jerk: Jenning’s Creek Elementary School (2617 Russellville Road, Bowling Green KY)
• Rolling Smoke: East Marshall Baptist Church (6324 Moors Camp Hwy, Gilbertsville KY)
• World Central Kitchen Food Truck, All Tied Up: Mayfield Fairgrounds (1001Housman Street Mayfield KY)
• Infiniti Farms: The Plaza by Lowe’s (1104 Paris Road, Mayfield KY)

Team Depot, Home Depot’s volunteer force, assembled more than 600 disaster relief kits at its Jackson, Tenn. store on Monday. They contained trash bags, gloves, wipes, batteries, flashlights, tarps, towels and more. On Tuesday morning, the kits were loaded onto Akin and Porter Produce trucks and delivered to impacted communities in Dresden, Tenn. and Samburg, Tenn. The store also donated chainsaws and tarps to help with relief efforts.

In Tennessee, food clothing and other essential items will be available at Samburg Assembly of God, 253 N. Reelfoot Ave. in Hornbeck, Tenn. and at First Baptist Church, 204 S. Poplar St. in Kenton, Tenn.

Three Points of Distribution (POD) centers have been set up in Mayfield for tornado victims needing supplies and food. The following are open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day.

• Graves County Fairgrounds (Drive-Through Only) at101 Housman Street Mayfield, KY – Items Available: Food, water, baby supplies and cleaning supplies.
• Mayfield High School (Drive-Through Only) at 700 Douthitt Street Mayfield, KY -Items Available: Food, water, baby supplies and cleaning supplies.
• High Point Baptist Church at 220 Farthing Street (9th & Farthing) -Items Available: Food and water. 220 Farthing Street (9th & Farthing)

No donations will be accepted at the POD locations.

Meals are being served to the public at four elementary schools in Graves County. Breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the following schools:

• Fancy Farm Elementary School located at 270 State Route 339 South, Fancy Farm
• Sedalia Elementary School located at 5252 State Route 97, Mayfield
• Symsonia Elementary School located at 11730 State Route 131, Symsonia
• Wingo Elementary School located at 449 Lebanon Street, Wingo

Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served at His House Ministries located at 1250 KY-303 in Mayfield.

Found/lost pets

For emergency housing for displaced pets, you can call the Ceglinski Animal Clinic at 270-554-0171.

If you lost your pet, the Mayfield-Graves County Animal Shelter says you can visit them to fill out a lost report. You can also post a photo with your location and contact number to the Lost and Found thread on its Facebook page. They said many people will screenshot to share, so include as much information as possible.

If you found a pet, visit the shelter to fill out a found report, or send a picture, location found and your contact information to its Facebook page here. If you can house the pet, shelter leaders said they’re happy to provide the supplies needed. You may surrender strays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, until further notice.

Laundry services

P&G’s Tide Loads of Hope mobile laundry units will be collecting laundry starting on Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be at Walmart Supercenter, 1225 Paris Road in Mayfield.

Residents can bring cloths (up to two loads per household) to be washed, dried and folded free of charge. All washable clothing types will be accepted except for heavy bedding.

They will also be distributing free personal care and cleaning kits.

For Tennessee victims, there will be laundry services at Troy Laundry from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. until Dec. 15. It’s located at 218 W. Harper St. in Troy, Tenn.

Housing assistance

If you need tarps, True Line Roofing will be providing them free. You can call 270-906-5005 or 270-703-2290.

Kentucky State Parks are providing emergency shelters to distressed people affected by the tornado. Currently, the parks service is providing lodging for the American Red Cross, utility crews, first responders and displaced families.

The Commonwealth designated the following parks as part of the state’s emergency response efforts: Kentucky Dam Village (30 rooms available); Kenlake State Resort Park (58 rooms available, park has hook-up outlets that could be used for three washers and three dryers and will accept donations); Lake Barkley State Resort Park (awaiting electricity to be restored, an additional 56 rooms will available); Barren River Lake State Resort Park (30 rooms available); John James Audubon State Park (one cottage available); Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park (no rooms are available; all 37 rooms occupied); Rough River Dam State Resort Park (47 rooms available).

Families who are in need of emergency housing should contact their local emergency management office to request lodging. If a family in need arrives at a Kentucky State Park without having contacted their local emergency management office, park staff and volunteers should assist them in doing so when they arrive.

Kentuckians who reside in Lyon, Fulton, Graves, Muhlenberg, Marshall, Hopkins and Caldwell counties will receive priority placement.

Hickory Hills Resort on Kentucky Lake is offering a place to stay for anyone in the community affected by Friday’s tornado.

Senior Citizens who have health issues and live in the tornado corridor in western Kentucky or are without power may be eligible to temporarily stay in a nursing home until services are restored to their home. This is for senior citizens on Medicare or Medicaid.

Anyone needing long term sheltering is encouraged to call Marshall County Sherriff Dispatch at 270-527-1333.

Kentucky Red Cross is also working to help those in need. If your home was damaged or destroyed by the severe weather and you need Red Cross assistance, you can call 1-800-RED-CROSS. If you need a safe place to stay, you can find a list of open shelters at redcross.org/shelter. Some of the established shelters include:

• First United Methodist Church,100 Church St., Hickman, KY 42050 – Contact: Justin Jackson 270-254-0261
• Wingo Old Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 334 Lebanon St, Wingo, KY 42088 – Contact: Pastor RB Mays 270-983-0333
• The Way Center, 449 Lebanon Street, Wingo, KY, 42088 – Contact: Pastor Ike Murphy 270-564-0699 (The Wingo Old Cumberland Presbyterian church and The Way are next door to each other and are sharing resources)
• Fancy Farm Knights of Columbus Hall, 20 KY Hwy 39, Fancy Farm,Kentucky, 42039, – Contact: Todd Hayden, Commissioner 270-705-1051
• Lone Oak First Baptist Church, 3601 Lone Oak Road, Paducah, KY 42003 – Contact: Pastor Hank Garner 704-699-3473
• Senior Citizens who have health issues and live in the tornado corridor or are without power may be eligible to temporarily stay in a nursing home until services are restored to their home. This is for senior citizens on Medicare or Medicaid.

Marshall County Emergency Management said Marcella’s Kitchen at 868 Guy Mathis Dr. in Benton, Ky. will be opening for anyone needing a place to go that may have storm damage.

In Tennessee, an American Red Cross Shelter will be open at First Baptist Church, 204 S. Poplar St. in Kenton, Tenn.

Medication and package deliveries

UPS is setting up a pick-up location for residents affected by recent tornadoes in the Mayfield area. Anyone needing to ship out a package can do so at this facility, but will need to provide a prepaid label with your package. The location is Linwood Motors (Chevrolet dealer), 2007 State Route 45 N in Mayfield, Ky. It will be open Monday-Friday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Residents need to bring proof of ID to pick up a package.

The U.S. Postal Service has suspended operations at the Mayfield Post Office until further notice where a portion of the roof was taken off by the tornado.  Mail to post office boxes will be temporarily transferred to the main Paducah Post Office at 300 South 4th Street, where pick-up is available during regular service hours.  The Postal Service will attempt to set up a mail pickup point in Mayfield as soon as possible.

FedEx is also setting up a pick-up location at Linwood Motors for for residents affected by recent tornadoes in the Mayfield area.

Walgreens in Mayfield has been the only pharmacy that’s been open.

Walmart Pharmacy in Mayfield plans to open for prescription fulfillment on Monday, Dec. 13.

Success Vision Express is offering a free pair of glasses for tornado victims at their location in Paducah.

Jackson Purchase, in partnership with its sister facility Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset, opened a mobile clinic in Mayfield to care for non-emergent issues. It’s located in the Lowe’s parking lot at 1208C Paris Rd. in Mayfield until further notice. Staffed by a nurse practitioner, registered nurse and licensed practical nurse, the clinic is able to provide first aid, sick visits, medication refills, testing for flu, strep and COVID-19 and is stocked with first aid supplies and over-the-counter meds. It’s for local residents, first responders and anyone needing local medical assistance. It’s open and accepting walk-ins all day and closes each day before the Graves County curfew at dusk.

Insurance

Residents affected by tornado and storm damage are urged to take photographs of damage and debris before cleaning up or making repairs. Photos will be needed to file a claim. These photos will also assist community leaders as they seek disaster assistance from FEMA and other agencies.

Also, make sure you keep receipts from all purchases related to the cleanup and repair.

The State Farm Mobile Catastrophe vehicle is stationed in the parking lot of Mega Gym at 1102 Paris Road in Mayfield. Claims representatives and State Farm agents on hand to answer questions and begin the process of recovery. The State Farm Customer Response Unit (CRU) van will also be driving through neighborhoods in Mayfield distributing bottled water, flashlights, work gloves and teddy bears for children.

FEMA

Federal disaster assistance has been approved for Caldwell, Fulton, Graves and Marshall Counties. Teams will be arriving in some of these areas on Monday, Dec. 13.

According to FEMA, residents in those counties can apply online here, by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA mobile app. The toll-free telephone number will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.

When you apply, you will need to provide:

• A current phone number where you can be contacted
• Your address at the time of the disaster and the address where you are now staying
• Your Social Security Number
• A general list of damage and losses
• Banking information if you choose direct deposit
• If insured, the policy number of the agent and/or the company name

FEMA teams will be going door-to-door and anywhere they see people actively cleaning up. The teams will have federal identification, wear FEMA shirts and carry iPads. Residents are urged not to hesitate talking with them and filling out information, even if they don’t think they will qualify. Also, residents could help the FEMA crews get in touch with other victims. Those who register will get an eight digit number to track their status online.

Two FEMA mobile registration centers are now open in Dawson Springs and Mayfield to help tornado survivors apply for FEMA assistance.

FEMA mobile units are at the following locations:

• First Baptist Church at 960 Industrial Park Rd., Dawson Springs
• The old Walmart location at Mayfield Plaza located 1102 Paris Rd. in Mayfield
• Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

The deadline for applications is February 11, 2022.

More information can be found here.

Other

As of Monday afternoon, the Graves County Clerk’s equipment for vehicle titling and registration has been recovered and is being tested. It will be reinstated by Transportation Cabinet IT staff and Commonwealth Office of Technology once a temporary location has been arranged.

Graves County residents needing auto titling and registration can go to neighboring county’s clerk’s office temporarily. Online renewal is available for anyone with internet service.

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