PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Churches and charities have stepped in to assist Kentucky residents waiting on federal assistance after major flooding earlier this month.

The mud is mostly cleaned up and water service is back on in most places, but residents in several eastern Kentucky counties are waiting on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to declare a state of emergency. Gov. Steve Beshear made his request May 13.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that churches, local governments and charitable agencies like the Christian Appalachian Project are trying to fill the gaps until long-term recovery starts.

“We’ve got people who are absolutely hurting and in pain, and they need a quick response,” Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford said.

The Red Cross estimated that 307 homes were destroyed and another 593 suffered major damage in seven counties when torrents of rain starting falling May 8.

While FEMA has already approved the federal disaster declaration in West Virginia, which was hit by the same storms and felt the impact from the same flooded waterways, residents in Kentucky are still waiting.

A FEMA spokeswoman said the state’s aid application has been received and federal officials hope to make a decision this week.

Hardy United Methodist Church in Pike County became a hub for aid distribution in some remote areas, said Alice Tackett, the wife of the church pastor.

While men helped neighbors dig mud and move belongings, the women cooked and delivered meals and put the boxes on all terrain vehicles to bypass washed-out roads.

“That’s what the church is supposed to do. That’s what we’re called to do,” Tackett said.

But these organizations have to wait on the federal government to determine where funds will be going and where gaps need to be filled.

“We’re just now beginning to talk about any kind of long-term recovery and what that will look like,” said the Rev. Albert Hughes, disaster response coordinator for the United Methodist Church Prestonsburg district.

Until now, it’s been “just trying to help people to be safe, sanitary and secure,” he said.

Red Cross finished its initial damage assessment and is expecting to stay for at least another week working with individual clients, said Winn Stephens, the Red Cross’s Bluegrass Chapter development director.

Hughes said that people in eastern Kentucky come together and help each other like nowhere else, and that efforts by churches and charities make him proud.

“We’re not going to wait on others to come in and do for us what we could do for ourselves,” Hughes said.