SOUTH SHORE, Ky. — Greenup and Lewis counties are among 47 Kentucky counties that will share in a nearly $4.3 million National Emergency Grant to help pay for storm damages.

The grant, from the U.S. Department of Labor, will go toward the costs of cleanup and recovery efforts resulting from April’s severe storms, tornadoes and flooding.

Gov. Steve Beshear said a number of communities in northeastern Kentucky, including those in Carter and Boyd counties as well as Greenup and Lewis, sustained extensive damage from rains and high winds that wouldn’t seem to stop this spring.

“This money will not only provide much-needed assistance in those hard-hit areas but will also create 317 temporary jobs for eligible dislocated workers to help with the recovery work,” Beshear said in a statement released last Wednesday.

The grant was awarded to the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, which will fund a variety of services, including projects to assist with demolition and reconstruction of destroyed public buildings.

Workers paid by the grant funds will also assist in the delivery of humanitarian aid and safety assistance as needed, Beshear said.

He said some of the money can also be used for retraining for people whose jobs have been lost and they won’t be able to return to that particular work.

President Barack Obama granted a disaster declaration to Kentucky and on May 4 the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared the 47 of the state’s 120 counties as being eligible for FEMA’s Public Assistance Program.

G. SAM PIATT can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236, or spiatt@heartlandpublications.com.