Agencies

Disaster Recovery Centers in Garrard, Muhlenberg, Oldham and Webster Counties to Close Permanently; Help is Still Available

Published: 20 June 2025
Categories: FEMA News

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

FRANKFORT, Ky. –The Disaster Recovery Centers in Garrard, Muhlenberg, Oldham and Webster counties are scheduled to close permanently. Kentucky survivors who experienced loss as the result of the April severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides can still apply for FEMA assistance. The Disaster Recovery Centers are located at:

Garrard County: Closing permanently Friday, June 20 at 7 p.m.

Forks of Dix River Baptist Church: 5764 Lexington Road, Lancaster, KY 40444
Working hours are Wednesday through this Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time

Muhlenberg County: Closing permanently Saturday, June 21 at 7 p.m.
Fire Training Center: 61 Career Way, Central City, KY 42330
Working hours are Wednesday through this Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time.

Oldham County: Closing permanently Friday, June 20 at 5 p.m.
Goshen Branch Oldham Co. Public Library: 3000 Paramont Commons, Prospect, KY 40059
Working hours are Wednesday through this Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

Webster County: Closing permanently Saturday, June 21 at 7 p.m.
Onton United Methodist Church: 15 Wrightsburg Road, Sebree, KY 42455
Working hours are Wednesday through this Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time.

Disaster Recovery Centers are one-stop shops where you can get information and advice on available assistance from state, federal and community organizations. You can get help to apply for FEMA assistance, learn the status of your FEMA application, understand the letters you get from FEMA and get referrals to agencies that

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Microbes from Brooklyn could help mitigate industrial contamination

Published: 20 June 2025
Categories: National Science Foundation

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

Microorganisms with extreme abilities have laid the groundwork for decades of biotechnologies from the PCR technique that enables amplification of DNA for diagnostics and drug development to the gene editing tool CRISPR, and now researchers supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation have found a trove of these microbes in a somewhat unlikely location — the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. The team identified more than 450 species with over 60 different biochemical pathways to deal with pollutants and 1,171 genes that can aid in processing heavy metals, offering potential for bio-based and cheaper methods of industrial clean-up, the costs of which are estimated to be more than $645 billion.

The Gowanus Canal is a contaminated waterway in Brooklyn that has high concentrations of petrochemicals and heavy metals. The researchers, including Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis of the SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, collected soil samples at 14 locations along the 1.8-mile-long canal and deep sediment core samples and analyzed them using genomic sequencing and bioinformatics. Understanding the genetic sequences and metabolic pathways of the organisms identified will allow researchers to develop faster methods of what the microbes can do naturally.

“We have seen the power of extremophiles used in medicine and industry, and this new analysis expands the biological adaptations we can harness for societal benefit,” said Joanna Shisler, program director in the NSF Directorate for Biological

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FEMA Authorizes Funds to Fight Utah’s Forsyth Fire

Published: 20 June 2025
Categories: FEMA News

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

DENVER – This morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Forsyth Fire burning in Washington County, Utah near Pine Valley.

FEMA Region 8 approved the state’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) after receiving the request Thursday night and determining that the fire threatened such destruction that it would constitute a major disaster.

At the time of the request, the Forsyth Fire was threatening more than 400 homes, which were under an evacuation order. The fire started on Thursday and has burned more than 500 acres.

The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of the state’s eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires. These grants do not provide assistance to individual home or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire.

Fire Management Assistance Grants are provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund and are made available by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster. Eligible items can include expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair and replacement; mobilization and demobilization activities; and tools, materials and supplies. 

For more information on FMAGs, visit  https://www.fema.gov/fire-management-assistance-grants-program-details.

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