FSD – FEMA Flood Recovery In early April 2025, Frankfort, Kentucky experienced one of the most severe flooding events in its recorded history as the Kentucky River crested at 48.3 feet—its second-highest level on record—following several days of intense regional rainfall. The resulting floodwaters inundated large portions of the city, damaging homes, businesses, and critical public infrastructure. Among the most heavily impacted facilities was the Frankfort Sewer Department’s (FSD) M.C. McManis Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), where floodwaters compromised multiple process units, electrical systems, mechanical equipment, and associated pump station infrastructure essential to continuous operation and regulatory compliance. The event triggered widespread evacuations and emergency declarations at the local, state, and federal levels, activating FEMA response and recovery programs for both immediate relief and long-term mitigation funds. This presentation outlines and focuses on FSD’s post-flood recovery approach, WWTP staff preparedness, cost estimating, and resiliency, emphasizing the integration of FEMA project development, engineering design, and construction management under an aggressive and time-sensitive funding framework. Following a coordination meeting with FEMA in September 2025, FSD entered the critical 60-day window for submission of estimated project costs to support Public Assistance funding eligibility. To support this effort, a Hazen and LoVo drafted Flood Recovery Support Technical Memorandums (TM), completed in June 2025, documenting flood levels, observed damage throughout each process of the WWTP in preparation for the FEMA claim. The scope of recovery encompasses repairs to key treatment process systems at the WWTP, the bar screen at the Wastewater Diversion Facility (WWDF), the WWDF pump station, clarifiers, RAW and WAS pumping systems, system electrical controls, and UV system. In addition, FEMA project formulation and cost coding support were required for the WWTP and multiple concurrent pump station projects also damaged in the flood, including the Fort Boone Pump Station and the Old Lawrenceburg Road Pump Station. While these projects are managed by separate engineering teams, consistent FEMA documentation, cost tracking, eligibility alignment, and communication were critical to ensuring compliance and maximizing reimbursement. The presentation will highlight best practices in categorizing assets and critical needs equipment prior to disaster, identifying large and small FEMA-eligible projects, developing clear bid packages and technical specifications under recovery conditions, and coordinating design and construction administration (CA) while maintaining operational continuity. Attendees will gain insight into effective collaboration between utilities, consulting engineers, contractors, and FEMA representatives, as well as lessons learned in balancing rapid recovery with long-term resilience planning and documentation. By examining Frankfort’s response to a historic flood event, this session provides a practical roadmap for utilities facing similar climate-driven risks. The case study demonstrates how proactive documentation, skilled staff, disciplined project definition, and integrated engineering and construction management can accelerate recovery, reduce financial exposure, and strengthen wastewater infrastructure against future flooding events.