After a severe winter storm tore across the country Saturday and Sunday, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency is documenting damages to determine if the impacts were substantial enough to warrant a federal major disaster declaration.
Tennessee was among 12 states that received emergency disaster declarations from the Trump administration in the aftermath of the storm, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As of Thursday, though, no federal or state financial assistance was available to institutions that would qualify for the federal agency’s public assistance program, Kristin Coulter, communications director for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said in an email. Upgrading the emergency disaster declaration to a major disaster declaration would allow the state agency to request additional federal assistance, Coulter said.
Gov. Bill Lee’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative sent a survey via email to houses of worship in Tennessee asking for reports of property damage, cost estimates and whether the responding house of worship served as a warming shelter during the storm.
The information collected from the survey is being used as part of ongoing damage assessments, Coulter said, and will ensure impacts on houses of worship will be in consideration during recovery planning.
Houses of worship have not always been eligible to apply for public assistance, Coulter said. But a policy change in 2018 changed guidance on eligibility.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency released a third edition of its Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide in response to a Supreme Court case that decided withholding a public benefit from an entity simply because the entity was a religious facility was a violation of the clause in the First Amendment that prohibits the government from regulating or prohibiting religious beliefs, according to the revised policy guide.
“Because they have not historically been eligible,” Coulter said, “these institutions are often unaware they may qualify.”
Damage assessment information is also being collected from other eligible applicants, like local governments, utility providers and private nonprofits, Coulter said.
Contact religion reporter Kailee Shores at kshores@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.