Memorial Day tornado victims get more than $5 million

FEMA awarded about $5.26 million to Benton County residents affected by the Memorial Day storms , a spokesperson for the agency told Axios.

Why it matters: The storms destroyed dozens of homes and damaged hundreds of others.

State of play: The timeframe to apply for federal assistance ended in late August. FEMA approved 1,722 applications of the 5,311 that were submitted.

Zoom out: NWA nonprofit Excellerate Foundation collected about $2.3 million in donations through its Benton County Relief Fund, designed to provide help to residents making less than $125,000 a year and nonprofits for expenses not covered by government assistance.

• So far, Excellerate has given out about $2 million to 33 nonprofits and 1,587 individuals, chief program officer Justin Fletcher told Axios. The application and donation periods have ended.