Metro Government Won't Apply for Federal Disaster Relief

Residents and business owners in Louisville can apply for federal disaster relief money to cover recent flood damage, but Louisville Metro Government cannot.The floods did not force the city to spend more than $2.4 million in emergency or recovery operations. That's the threshold Metro Government would have to cross to qualify for federal relief.But individuals in Jefferson and several other flooded counties can apply to the federal government individually, though mayor's spokesperson Chris Poynter doubts many Louisvillians will."Very few people are likely to do that because most of the affected homes are along River Road and they already have national flood protection insurance, and that will most likely cover them for most of their losses."The floods will require the city to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cleanup and overtime. Poynter says that money will just have to come out of the budget, though he's not yet sure if any cuts will be necessary to cover the costs."That’s' something we won't know for certain until several months from now. The biggest costs to us are through our Public Works Department—people who had to barricade the roads and then clean the roads and Waterfront Park once the water receded."The city will have to spend at least several hundred thousand dollars repairing flooded streets and parks and paying workers' overtime.