Six weeks after the weather from Hurricane Helene devastated southwest Virginia, $30.5 million has been paid out so far to rebuild homes and infrastructure and provide other assistance to help residents recover.

That number includes $20 million for towns to restore public infrastructure and $10.5 million for residents to repair homes and property, Gov. Glenn Youngkin told a room of disaster response personnel and reporters, Thursday.

“People are getting support, the process is working and I just encourage people to participate,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do; there are a lot of people who still need support.”

The governor also noted that Virginia has been approved for two flood and hazard mitigation grants totaling $59 million in an effort to protect the community from similar disasters to come.

Residents of 17 localities can apply for individual assistance through December 2: Bedford, Bland, Carroll, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pittsylvania, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Galax and Radford, Wise and Wythe counties and cities . .

How many people asked for help?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has so far received 10,000 requests for individual aid from Virginia. Of those, 2,700 have been ordered for home inspections, which Timothy Pheil, the federal coordinating officer for FEMA in Virginia, estimated was about 93 percent complete as of Thursday. About 7,000 other claimants sought assistance for something other than home repairs.

Some of those who applied for assistance may have received rejection letters, but Pheil said residents should consider them invitations to return to one of the eight disaster recovery centers still open in the region .

“The most common problem for rejection letters was, ‘We can’t get in touch with you,'” Youngkin said. “Sometimes they just need more information.”

People with and without home insurance can qualify for the program.

The time it takes for residents to receive assistance can vary, but Pheil noted that the first payment in individual assistance arrived in residents’ bank accounts by Oct. 4, three days after the Oct. 1 disaster was declared in Virginia. Typically, the process can take 10-15 days, he said.

Total cost of damage not yet known, but coming

A total dollar figure for damage in Virginia was not yet available as of Thursday, but Youngkin said he expects it to be provided to the Biden-Harris administration and Congress next week. Then the ball will be in Congress’s court to fund the agencies that provide the support.

Leaving it up to Congress may prove difficult. Earlier Thursday, for example, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., blocked a bipartisan bill that would have allowed Small business administration continue to pay disaster relief to businesses. This lack of funding has caused a delay in approving new applications for those seeking assistance from the agency.

“While I am deeply disappointed that my colleagues have prevented us from doing our duty and reauthorizing this essential funding for small businesses devastated by Helene, I am as committed as ever to fighting for the communities affected in the South West Virginia,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Thursday on the U.S. Senate floor. “If we fail to do this soon, the communities of Southwest Virginia will see businesses close for good and have an even longer road to recovery.”

A spokesman for Warner said the senator, along with Sen. Thom Tillis, RN.C., are expected to bring the bill up for consideration again soon.

Youngkin said his office has discussed the possibility of state aid with the General Assembly, but first must determine how much aid will be provided by the federal government.

“I’m optimistic that the federal government and support from the federal government will be extended, and then the state will step back and see what we’re going to have to do,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see what the federal government ultimately funds.”

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