Helene is expected to stall out over Kentucky this weekend as a post-tropical depression.?(NOAA satellite image)

Gov. Andy Beshear warned Kentuckians to avoid traveling on roads Friday and to be ready for a risk of flooding and power outages as remnants of Hurricane Helene impact Kentucky.?

Beshear said in a Friday morning briefing that state employees were being sent home early to get ahead of expected peak wind gusts from the storm’s remnants expected to be 40- 60 miles per hour throughout much of Central and Eastern Kentucky, according to the National Weather Service.?

The governor said such wind gusts, expected to pick up in most of the state starting around noon Eastern Time, could make driving in higher profile vehicles including tractor trailers more hazardous, especially on roads that run north to south.?

“If you’re out in the middle of this, we need your 100% attention while you’re driving for your safety and for the safety of those around you,” Beshear said. “Certainly a chance for some minor flooding, a chance that we lose power, a chance that we have trees fall over roadways and create treacherous conditions.”?

He said the number of Kentuckians without power is expected to fluctuate throughout the day. Tens of thousands of people mostly in Eastern Kentucky are without power as of Friday morning, according to a website that tracks and compiles power outage numbers from utilities.

Most of Kentucky is also under a flood watch and has a slight risk for excessive rainfall leading to flash flooding. The National Weather Service in Jackson, Kentucky is warning that because soil is already saturated from previous rainfall, the incoming rain could runoff quickly.?

The National Hurricane Center’s latest report states Tropical Storm Helene is currently located over western North Carolina as of Friday morning and is expected to stall out over Kentucky this weekend as a post-tropical depression.?

“This is the remnants of a hurricane that’s hitting us, and I believe that we all ought to be humble enough to know that this forecast can change and that we may need to get additional information out there as it goes,” Beshear said.?

Cleanup efforts at the Isom IGA store in East Kentucky after the flooding of July 2022. (Photo by Malcolm Wilson)

This story was produced through a collaboration between the Daily Yonder, which covers rural America, and Climate Central, a nonadvocacy science and news group.

On the day he would become homeless, Wesley Bryant was awoken by his wife, Alexis.

“Get up,” she told him. “There’s a flood outside.”

It was 8 a.m. on a Thursday in late July, two years ago in rural Pike County, Kentucky, and rain had been pouring for days. Overnight, it got heavier. Homes and vehicles were being swept down the narrow valleys of Eastern Kentucky’s mountainous terrain.

Dozens of people died after more than a foot of rain fell from July 26 through July 30, 2022, flooding 13 rural counties in Eastern Kentucky. Yet as these communities attempt to rebuild, they’re being overlooked for federal spending that’s protecting wealthier and more urbanized Americans from such weather disasters.

Wesley, Alexis, their two daughters and Alexis’ sister evacuated, hiking the half-mile to Alexis’ mother’s house via the mountains behind their own home to avoid flooded roads. They’ve been living there ever since.

Kentucky is a regular victim of flooding. During the past century, more than 100 people have died in storms across the state, including at least 44 two summers ago. Heat-trapping pollution is driving up rainfall rates and flood risks.

Thousands of survivors were forced to move out of damaged homes, including Wesley and his family. Their house, which Wesley’s grandfather built in the 1970s, is unlivable. Insulation peels from the ceiling and the floors bubble with water damage. Finding contractors to fix the house has been difficult because thousands of other flooded properties are also being repaired or replaced.

Their furniture and appliances were destroyed, and Wesley estimates replacing them would cost around $20,000. The family was denied FEMA disaster assistance so they’ve had to foot these costs themselves. “We just need a little help from our government,” he said.

Despite histories of flooding, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) classifies Pike County and the 12 other counties that flooded two years ago as facing “low” risks in the event of a natural disaster like a flood. That’s largely because they have less to lose —financially — compared to more urbanized areas.

Critics of FEMA’s risk-determination tool, called the National Risk Index, say it doesn’t include enough information about rural communities, especially when it comes to flooding, leading it to understate hazards.

That suggests that as the federal government cranks up spending on infrastructure, including the allocation of more than $1 billion to help reduce future flood threats, families in East Kentucky and other rural regions are at risk of missing out on projects that could help them prepare better for the next disaster.

What is the National Risk Index

FEMA developed its National Risk Index to help local and state officials and residents plan for emergencies through an online tool. The agency sourced historic rainfall and other data to characterize these risks, allowing it to paint a national picture of threats from local disasters, findings that influence its spending decisions.

FEMA began developing the risk index in 2016, though initial work dates to 2008. The first iteration of the risk index was released in October 2020, and the data has been updated twice since then, most recently in March 2023.

Work to update how the risk index handles inland flooding is expected early next year. In a press release touting new requirements that forced the coming update, the Biden administration said that in “recent years, communities have seen repeated flooding that threatens both lives and property” but that the agency’s approaches to measuring risks based on historical data “have become outdated.”

The agency is also working on a “climate-informed” risk index looking at future hazards but, so far, inland flooding is not on the list of disasters planned to be included.

FEMA’s national and regional press offices declined to be interviewed or answer questions for this story.

“There’s a bias against, I think, rural communities, especially in the flood dataset,” said Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, a nonprofit that certifies floodplain managers and educates policymakers about flood loss. He said this bias could profoundly confuse or affect emergency managers in those areas.

“It’s giving false results,” Berginnis said. “I think we’ve got to be very thoughtful and very careful on how we use [the risk index] for the hazard of flood in particular.”

The building of homes and communities in vulnerable locations and the effects of heat-trapping pollution are converging to escalate the frequency of weather disasters across the U.S. One of the effects of climate change is an intensification in the amount of rainfall that can fall every hour. A federal report on the latest climate science showed the rainiest days across the Southeast are dumping more than a third more water on average now than was the case in the late 1950s. Ongoing emissions and warming threaten to continue to boost rainfall rates.

“If it’s gone up that much already, we might be wise to be concerned,” said Scott Denning, an atmospheric sciences professor at Colorado State University who studies carbon dioxide, water, and energy cycles. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

That rain often falls on ground where coal mining excavations removed mountaintops. Researchers overlaid data regarding fatalities from the floods with maps of mountaintop removal mining and found that many of the deaths were downstream from or adjacent to such sites.

Neglecting rural Americans

Todd DePriest doesn’t “believe in Facebook,” but uses his mother’s account to surf the website’s digital marketplace. That’s what he was doing two summers ago when he saw alerts about severe floods in Letcher County, Kentucky, where he serves as the mayor of Jenkins, population 1,800.

Public service announcements warning people to “turn around, don’t drown” during floods were circulating on his mother’s feed. DePriest got up from his computer to look out the window at the torrential rain and realized the threat his own town was about to face.

DePriest jumped in his Jeep to check on the bridge at the lower end of Jenkins. When he got there, the road across the bridge had already flooded.

“I started calling people I knew down there and said, ‘Hey, the water’s up and if you want to get out of here, we’re going to have to do something pretty quick,’” DePriest said.

His next calls were to the fire department to prepare them for the emergencies to which they were likely to respond, then to city workers to get essential maintenance vehicles like garbage trucks to higher ground.

Letcher County was one of the hardest hit of the 13 counties declared federal disaster areas by FEMA. Five of those killed across the region were in Letcher County.

Two years since the floods, the region is still rebuilding. “They (FEMA) were telling us it was going to take four or five, six years to recover and get through this,” DePriest said. “And I thought, well, there’s no way it’s going to take that long.”

Now, DePriest hopes it only takes five years.

“All the processes and dealing with FEMA – and I think they’re fair in what they do – but it’s just a process,” DePriest said.

The National Risk Index multiplies a community’s expected annual loss in dollars by their risk factor. Like most of the east Kentucky counties that flooded two summers ago, Letcher County’s risk level is scored “very low” by the risk index.

That’s because it includes annual asset loss in its equations.

Rural counties like Letcher, where the average home costs about $75,000 and median household income is half the national average, score lower on the risk scale because there are fewer dollars to lose when disaster strikes. The area’s flood hazard threat is deemed relatively high but the potential consequences in financial losses are lower compared with denser areas.

The urban-rural disparity can be examined by comparing how the National Risk Index judges Jackson, Kentucky, a small city about 80 miles southeast of Lexington, with Jackson, Mississippi, the Magnolia State’s populous capital.

Both cities saw disastrous flooding during the summer of 2022. Unlike its namesake in Kentucky, Jackson, Mississippians suffered no flood deaths, though financial damage was far worse —?an estimated $1 billion.

Hinds County – home to Mississippi’s capital – is assigned a “relatively moderate” risk level. Its social vulnerability is categorized as very high, with community resiliency categorized as relatively high, meaning the community is expected to bounce back more effortlessly after disaster. River flooding is deemed the second greatest natural disaster risk, with annual losses estimated at about $15 million.

To compare, Breathitt County, where Jackson, Kentucky, is located, is given a “very low” risk level by the National Risk Index. Its social vulnerability is categorized as relatively high and community resiliency is categorized as very low, suggesting it would need more help after disasters. Although FEMA considers river flooding the greatest disaster risk to the community, its annual losses are rated at just $1.3 million.

This urban-rural difference matters because FEMA uses the National Risk Index to determine how much money communities should receive to better prepare for natural disasters. For example, it’s being used to make decisions about spending $1.2 trillion available to lessen future flood risks under the U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The risk index is also used to determine which communities get money through FEMA’s Community Disaster Resilience Zones program, which designated 483 community census tracts as Community Disaster Resilience Zones last year. This means the communities inside those tracts can receive extra money for disaster planning. Of those census tracts, a third are federally classified as rural.

Disaster experts say relying solely on the risk index can disadvantage places that lack long-term weather records — which are often missing from rural communities.

Weather stations can be sparse in treacherous landscapes. Rural areas are among the last to have their flood hazards mapped by FEMA, with the agency prioritizing higher-density regions. And National Weather Service offices tend to be located in more urban areas, according to Melanie Gall, co-director of the Center for Emergency Management Homeland Security at Arizona State University.

“I think that we miss a lot,” she said.

Progress post-flood

Immediately after the July 2022 floods, FEMA and Kentucky Emergency Management began temporarily providing trailers for hundreds of flood survivors. Both programs have since ended.

FEMA gave trailer occupants the option to purchase their units as permanent housing. The trailer cost was determined by a formula that factored the type of unit, its size, and how many months it had been occupied by the interested buyer.

In the middle of the most recent winter, 18 months after torrential rainfall on steep slopes left so many families homeless, federal trailers that hadn’t been paid for were hauled away.

Kentucky’s program offered more flexibility: While the program has ended, three families still live in state-funded campers, according to Julia Stanganelli, flood recovery coordinator for the Housing Development Alliance. The Eastern Kentucky-based affordable housing developer has led the efforts to rehab and rebuild houses lost in the flood using state disaster money.

The three families are living in the campers while they wait for a new housing development to be built above the floodplain in Knott County, Kentucky, Stanganelli said.

East Kentucky’s population was declining long before the floods. Shaping Our Appalachian Region, a nonprofit focused on population retention and growth, estimates Eastern Kentucky has lost nearly 55,000 residents since 2000. The floods accelerated the losses.

During the 2022 floods, already sparse cell service went out entirely, and even the U.S. Weather Service’s on-duty warning meteorologist faced busy or disconnected phone lines, recalls Jane Marie Wix, a warning coordination meteorologist with the Weather Service.

Wix said the creek near her house turned into a “river,” preventing her from reaching work. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so helpless before.”

Locals are working to better prepare for the next disaster, with or without federal government help.

Todd DePriest, the mayor of Jenkins, worked with the nonprofit law firm Appalachian Citizens Law Center to pay for four stream monitors that can trigger flood warnings.

Wesley Bryant, the Pike County resident whose home flooded two years ago, said he’s called his state representatives “hundreds of times” to keep Eastern Kentucky’s disaster recovery top of mind.

Bryant said he recently felt “pretty defeated” after receiving another notification about failing to qualify for federal assistance. But he said he won’t quit fighting.

“This is my home, this is my commonwealth,” Wesley said. “I’m going to fight for it.”

This article first appeared on The Daily Yonder and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Next to the Wayland Area Volunteer Fire Department in Floyd County are 11 new homes, outside the floodplain. (Photo by Al Cross/Kentucky Lantern)

WAYLAND, Ky. – Gov. Andy Beshear promised a different future for Eastern Kentucky as he made five stops in the region Friday to signal the weekend’s second anniversary of record floods on the night of July 27-28, 2022.

In the little Floyd County town of Wayland, Beshear dedicated 11 homes that he said would be the first “fully inhabited” new development on “high ground,” above the mountainous region’s often-flooded streams.

In the Knott County seat of Hindman, he paid tribute to the flood’s 45 victims, 22 of whom were in Knott, after announcing that the state had bought more than 100 acres for 150 homes on a reclaimed surface coal mine — a dream decades old and finally made possible by the flood’s existential challenge to the region.

“That makes it official,” Beshear said at the Chestnut Ridge development next to the Knott County Sportsplex on Kentucky 80. “This project is happening.” An adjoining tract with 50 homes will be developed by the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky and its partners, and another high-ground community, Olive Branch tear Talcum, is in the works.

Another is coming above Hazard in Perry County, where Beshear announced financing for completion of a road to serve the new 50-acre Sky View subdivision, which will make possible an adjacent private development that Hazard’s mayor says would be the region’s largest housing development.

And in Jackson, he announced $6 million in state aid to build 20 homes for flood survivors and said the state continues to look for a large tract for homes on high ground in Breathitt County, which has one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates and is officially estimated to have lost more than 5% of its population since 2020.

“I want people to stay here,” Beshear said, “but you know what? I want people to move here. It’s time for Eastern Kentucky to get its share.”

At Sky View, he said local and state officials “are going to bring hundreds and thousands of new jobs to Eastern Kentucky.” He also pledged, “This fall and this winter you are gonna see those homes start coming up.”

That will be welcome in a region that has heard more talk than action aimed solving its problems, Perry County Judge-Executive Scott Alexander told Beshear and the crowd:

“Governor, far too often, the people of East Kentucky and Appalachia have heard promises from government, only for those to never be followed through. And so I really believe that more and more people will start believing in what we’re doing as they can see the progress happening.”

Tangible progress

The progress was tangible in Wayland, as several families getting new homes in a narrow strip next to the local fire department dedicated the homes with Beshear and officials of the Appalachia Service Project, a faith-based nonprofit that brings volunteers from all over the nation to the region.

“It’s remarkable, the amount of work that’s gone on to make sure these people get back on their feet,” Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams told the crowd.

One new homeowner is Jackie Bradley, 71, who has been living in an apartment in Martin, where the forks of Beaver Creek meet. Wayland is a few miles upstream, at Right Beaver’s confluence with Steele Creek. She had lived in Glo Hollow, just downstream from Wayland, so close to the creek that her home was flooded twice — the second time a few days after the first, when rains swelled Right Beaver again and her house was caught in a whirlpool. She said her 6-year-old grandson yelled, “Granny, look at your house! It’s like the Wizard of Oz!”

Beshear said repeatedly that the favorite part of his job has been seeing young children go through their new home, picking out their bedrooms. “You just see a little bit of God in that moment,” he said in Wayland.

The Appalachia Service Project plans to build about a dozen more homes in or near the town of 400. Materials are already stored across the road from the new homes, waiting on identification of properties and negotiations for acquisition.

‘Living out the Golden Rule’

State government and other entities helped with the infrastructure for the 11 homes. The Federal Home Loan Bank helped the state with construction financing. “We loan money to banks, but we set aside 15% of our profits for affordable housing,” FHLB of Cincinnati President Judy Rose told the crowd. She said ASP and Beshear have been leaders in “getting boots on the ground” to do the work.

Beshear said the many volunteers are “living out the Golden Rule that we are to love our neighbor as ourself, and the parable of the Good Samaritan that says everyone is our neighbor. In a world that sometimes feels toxic, that we’re supposed to be against each other, you all have come together as one people to truly stand up for each other and to house those that have lost everything.”

Other high-ground developments are in Letcher County: Grand View near Jenkins, which is to have 116 homes on 92 acres, and The Cottages at Thompson Branch near Whitesburg, with 10 homes, one of them already occupied.

Beshear said there may be more: “There’s a couple of others [where] we’re still trying to work through issues.”

He told reporters in Wayland, “We’re more than halfway through because the toughest part that takes the longest are the utilities. … We knew with the infrastructure that was destroyed, with the thousands of people who were left homeless, this was probably the most difficult rebuild in the history of the United States.

“But it happened to the toughest of people. And immediately what we saw was the best of our humanity. It was people pushing aside all the silliness, not caring if somebody’s a Democrat or a Republican, just caring that they are a human being, wanting to get them back on their feet. You saw Kentuckians living for each other, and that Eastern Kentuckians are as tough as nails, and as kind as anybody else out there on planet Earth.”

The Democratic governor said state agencies “worked together in ways we’ve never seen, doing things that were never done.” Officials of the Energy and Environment Cabinet have essentially become land developers, because they have to make sure that the reclaimed mine sites are stable and properly drained.

“We’ve never done anything like this,” Beshear said of state employees. “Their level of dedication, the work they’ve put in while doing their day job, has been really special. I’ve seen amazing leadership from people who may have been in state government almost all of their lives but see this as the most important thing that they’ve done in serving the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

As it gets into the land-development business, the state is also negotiating with landowners like Paul Ison of Hazard, who donated 50 acres to the state for Sky View but will soon be in a position to profit from developing about 200 adjoining acres.

By building the access road to Sky View, Ison said, “They’re helping the whole community out. You gotta have housing to get another factory or some more business here.”

Beshear said in an interview, “I believe that Paul Ison was very generous. We asked for as much as he would offer, and 50 acres is where he started, and it was more than enough for what we needed. … It’s a good deal for everybody. We can’t build enough just through nonprofits to address overall housing needs, so I welcome private development.”

This story has been updated to clarify that the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky and its partners are developing a 50-home tract near the Knott County Sportsplex and also the Olive Branch community near Talcum. An earlier version had incorrect information.

Al Cross is director emeritus of the Institute for Rural Journalism. After more than 50 years of reporting and editing, he says the trip with Beshear was probably his last for a news story. He retires Aug, 1.

Utilities install and repair utility poles in tornado-struck Hopkins County in May 2024. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

President Joe Biden has declared a major disaster declaration for Kentucky counties hit by a deadly tornado outbreak and other severe weather in May, opening up applications for individual Kentuckians to apply for federal aid.?

A release Wednesday from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says that federal funding, including money for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans for uninsured property losses, is available to individuals in Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Christian, Clay, Greenup, Hopkins, Knox, Logan, Muhlenberg, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Warren and Whitley counties.

Business owners and residents in disaster-impacted areas can apply for federal assistance through FEMA’s website, through FEMA’s mobile app or by calling 1-800-621-3362.?

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and local officials in Western Kentucky had pushed disaster survivors to document their damage to increase the chances of FEMA granting individual disaster relief, which isn’t guaranteed after a natural disaster. The May tornado outbreak included one EF-3 tornado that tore a similar path to an EF-4 tornado that devastated Western Kentucky communities in December 2021, destroying some homes that were newly rebuilt after the first tornado.?

“We are once again thankful to President Biden and his administration for approving this funding. This support will be a big help for our families as they recover and rebuild from yet another terrible storm,” Beshear said in a statement. “As always, we saw our first responders and everyday Kentuckians rally to help each other in those toughest of moments, and that is why I am so proud to be Governor of this great commonwealth.”

FEMA also stated local governments and some nonprofits in 55 counties across the state are eligible for assistance to repair damaged facilities.?

Gov. Andy Beshear, right, surveys storm damage from storms in May. (Gov. Andy Beshear)

Gov. Andy Beshear gave updates on how Kentuckians affected by recent severe weather can receive assistance and how damages are being assessed.?

In his weekly press conference, Beshear said Louisville Metro Emergency Services is working with local government officials and first responders to assess damage and assist victims of an EF-1 tornado that hit Jefferson County on July 4.. Beshear visited the site along with Kentucky Emergency Management (KEM) officials on Friday.?

Beshear said another tornado touched down in Union County Tuesday night as Kentucky experienced storms that were remnants of Hurricane Beryl. Beshear said KEM is monitoring the situation and is offering assistance to county officials as requested.?

“As the National Weather Service begins to conduct surveys, we expect other tornadoes will be confirmed,” Beshear said. “The damage mostly impacted agricultural areas, and one home has reported damage.?

Assistance for previous weather events

Beshear gave updates on assistance for survivors of a few severe weather events in recent months.?

The governor said that the Small Business Administration is offering disaster assistance for businesses, homeowners, renters and nonprofit organizations affected by severe storms and tornadoes on March 14 and 15. Kentucky counties Trimble, Carroll, Henry and Oldham were affected at the time.?

Businesses and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace real estate, machinery, inventory and other business assets damaged or destroyed during the storms. Homeowners may qualify for loans up to $500,000 to repair or replace real estate damaged or destroyed in the storms or up to $100,000 to replace damaged or destroyed personal property.?

The deadline to apply for physical property damage applications is Aug. 26 for the March storms. To apply, visit sba.gov/disaster, call 800-659-2955 or email [email protected].?

For early April severe storms that affected 11 Kentucky counties, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has distributed more than $1.3 million in individual assistance to 902 survivors, Beshear said.?

President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration for the storms in May. The counties affected were Boyd, Carter, Fayette, Greenup, Henry, Jefferson, Jessamine, Mason, Oldham, Union and Whitley.?

“Remember, it’s tough to apply for individual assistance,” Beshear said. “We met it for this set of storms because so many people submitted their damage. Even if they didn’t need individual assistance, they were helping us account for the damage so those who needed it could get it.”?

To apply for FEMA assistance, visit www.DisasterAssistance.gov, call 800-621-FEMA (3362) or by use the FEMA app.?

Beshear said Kentucky has not received a federal disaster declaration for severe weather damage during late May events, but KEM is working with FEMA to assess damage and direct survivors toward assistance. The governor said those impacted by damage should contact their local emergency manager.?

A tornado destroyed out buildings and damaged the roof and windows of Tabatha Adams' home in Hopkins County. (Courtesy of Tabatha Adams)

Sitting on her front porch surrounded by tornado damage, Tabatha Adams never imagined being on the other side of disaster recovery.?

As the former president of her local Rotary Club, she helped her neighbors when Dawson Springs grappled with the devastating aftermath of an EF-4 tornado in December 2021. The Western Kentucky city of about 2,400 lost 75% of its housing while 19 residents lost their lives in the severe weather outbreak that killed 74 Kentuckians.?

Adams organized disaster grants, totaling $180,000 in 2022 she said, to help her neighbors rebuild and spearheaded the construction of a memorial remembering those killed from Dawson Springs.

But now, it’s her own family that is receiving help from neighbors she had previously aided. Kentucky faced the brunt of another tornado outbreak Sunday with a particularly strong tornado — one that spurred the National Weather Service to issue a rare “tornado emergency” — tearing a track just north of Dawson Springs city limits through the unincorporated communities of Charleston and Barnsley.

A survey by the National Weather Service found the tornado to be of EF-3 strength with peak wind speeds of 160 mph and a peak width of 700 yards or nearly a half-mile. The Sunday tornado’s track was north of the path taken by the 2021 tornado and through a less densely populated area.

Gov. Andy Beshear said five people across the state were killed in the storms, including a 48-year-old woman from Hopkins County. Fatalities also were reported in Caldwell, Hardin and Mercer counties and in Louisville. At least 14 counties have declared states of emergency, and tens of thousands still were without power across the state as of Tuesday afternoon.?

About 40 homes across Hopkins County have been significantly damaged or are complete losses from the Sunday tornado, according to Kevin Cotton, the mayor of the Hopkins County seat of Madisonville. That included Adams’ home along Daylight Road, considered an epicenter of damage from the twister: her two-car garage and barn were both toppled, shingles torn off her roof and windows broken throughout her house.?

But she’s grateful her family, dog and cats are safe. She’s also not having to rebuild a second time; some homes hit by the Sunday storms were damaged or destroyed in the 2021 tornado. Adams said the 2021 tornado had missed her home by less than a mile.?

“We’re talking not even three years ago these people were picking up their lives and rebuilding,” Adams said. “Here they are again. It is unimaginable and unthinkable, and it just really makes you wonder why.”?

In recent decades, more tornado outbreaks have shifted geographically to the mid-South including Western Kentucky, which scientists say is connected to the impacts of climate change. More warm, moist air is coming from the Gulf of Mexico to collide with colder air from the Western U.S., fueling potential tornadoes across the South, scientists say.

In Hopkins County, recovery efforts at least have a head start because of the existing recovery infrastructure and knowledge on how to respond, said Heath Duncan, the co-chair of the Hopkins County Long Term Recovery Committee.?

Duncan, who’s also the executive director of the regional Habitat for Humanity organization, said a surge of hundreds of volunteers since Sunday has arrived to help clear debris and check on survivors. But the financial costs of recovery, especially what costs will ultimately be borne by local communities and residents, is still being realized.?

Duncan said the 2021 tornado destroyed not only homes but also city infrastructure from water lines to sidewalks. Rebuilding to better withstand future storms can be an “incredibly expensive endeavor,” he added. He said financial support moving forward will still likely rely on generosity of local donors and state and federal governments.?

“The process of long term recovery work has been difficult the last two years, and for me personally, the hardest thing that I’ve had to do in life,” Duncan said, mentioning he feels frustrated on the verge of anger at times over his community’s situation. “A lot of us are just tired from the 2021 tornado, and so now every time a storm blows through we’re like, ‘Please, we can’t handle anything else.’”?

Gov. Andy Beshear in a press conference with emergency management officials Monday said he believed the storm damage from across numerous counties, particularly in Western Kentucky, would qualify the disaster for FEMA’s public assistance program, which provides grants to restore infrastructure.?

But individual survivors being able to apply to FEMA for disaster aid is not guaranteed; Beshear said it would take every Kentuckian impacted to document their damage and report it for FEMA to open up aid to individuals. That’s especially crucial, he said, for those impacted who are uninsured.?

“Your willingness to track your damage and to turn it in is what could help a neighbor or someone you don’t even know from another county get that help,” Beshear said.?

While state officials wait to hear if and what federal disaster assistance Kentuckians will receive, local Hopkins County residents are still working long hours in the immediate aftermath to help their neighbors.?

Meredith and David Hyde only moved back into a newly constructed home in Dawson Springs less than two years ago after their original home was made unlivable after the 2021 tornado. On Tuesday afternoon, they drove around damaged areas in Charleston dropping off monetary donations made possible by the local Rotary Club to survivors.?

Meredith Hyde, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, said she’s been mindful to provide survivors with mental health resources when they need it, some of them still processing the shock of the disaster. David and she don’t have many memories from the first couple of weeks after the 2021 tornado, she said, and “neither one of us I don’t think could have made it without the other one.”?

She mentioned one woman they were visiting provided them $500 worth of kitchen supplies after the 2021 tornado.?

“This community just takes care of each other,” Hyde said. “This is not about having to do it. This is about wanting to do it.”

Recent storms disrupted water service in Leitchfield after flooding washed out a water main. (Getty Images)

After Gov. Andy Beshear initially reported a Leitchfield hospital needed to relocate its patients after recent Kentucky storms caused a water main to wash out in a flash flood, the administration says that wasn’t necessary.?

Around 7,000 people use the same water main in Leitchfield, Beshear said, including two assisted living facilities and two nursing homes.??Leitchfield is along the Western Kentucky Parkway and about a two-hour drive from Frankfort.?

“The Department for Public Health was making preparations in case it became necessary to relocate patients from health care facilities, but that assistance was not needed,” the administration said Thursday afternoon. “The water main is being assessed to determine next steps.”

No one died and no injuries were reported during the recent storms, Beshear said in his weekly press conference. Seven counties got more than three inches of rain — Grayson, Logan, Marshall, Simpson, Todd, Trigg and Union. Daviess, Grayson and Powell Counties suffered damage. Local first responders did water rescues in three counties — Marion, Logan and Simpson.?

This story may update.?

Gov. Andy Beshear surveys damage in Prospect from Tuesday's severe weather. (Gov. Andy Beshear X account)

Gov. Andy Beshear said a Kenton County resident died in a car accident as a result of the severe storms and tornadoes that swept Kentucky Tuesday, while emergency management officials have reported no other major injuries or deaths.

Beshear in a Wednesday news conference praised emergency management officials, first responders and utility workers for their response during the severe weather outbreak.?

“This storm and the tornadoes involved had statewide impacts hitting numerous areas,” Beshear said. “I am so thankful that Kentuckians have remained so weather aware.”?

The governor said the Kenton County death occurred “when this first line of strong storms and rain were coming through” and that the death of the young man was a “tragic occurrence.”?

Beshear said federal weather officials are still surveying, but preliminary National Weather Service surveys have confirmed separate EF-1 tornadoes in Anderson, Nelson, Jessamine and Bourbon counties, along with another EF-1 tornado that hit the city of Prospect in Jefferson and Oldham counties. Other counties including some in Eastern Kentucky could have tornado damage, he said. He said he thinks at least seven tornadoes will be confirmed once surveys are done.?

The governor said states of emergency requests had been received from Union County in the west to Elliott County in the east. Cities across the state had also declared states of emergency including Ashland, Louisville, Mount Vernon and Catlettsburg.?

Additionally, Beshear urged Kentuckians to take photos and document any damage before cleaning up in an effort to help the state qualify for federal disaster assistance, particularly to qualify for individual assistance.

New legislative limits on administration’s emergency response spending

Beshear also renewed calls for the GOP-dominated state legislature to remove funding limits in the pending state budget for agencies responding to emergencies and disasters. Beshear said his administration wouldn’t have been able to respond to Tuesday’s storms in the way it did if such funding limits had been in place.

“We’ve made this plea to leadership on both sides. I admittedly don’t understand why it’s still in there when these are our Kentucky neighbors,” Beshear said, mentioning that if the funding limits remain in place he could have to call a special legislative session during emergencies to appropriate money for a response. “It’s just not smart policymaking.”

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, in an emailed statement through a spokesperson said Beshear already has “access to $100 million” in emergency spending. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to Lantern questions about if the $100 million referred to funding allocated in the current fiscal year or future fiscal years.

“If an emergency is so significant or tragic that it requires spending more than $100 million, the governor has a responsibility to call the General Assembly into a special session. Otherwise, he suggests we forgo our constitutional duties as the branch responsible for the purse of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Stivers said. “The cost of calling the General Assembly, your representatives in Frankfort, in for a special session would be pennies on the tens of millions of dollars we’d allocate and would ensure the governor’s collaboration with the legislative branch of government.”

Emails sent to a spokesperson for Republican leadership in the Kentucky House of Representatives asking about Beshear’s renewed calls were not immediately returned.?

The latest version of House Bill 6 — the state executive branch budget passed by the legislature on the last day before it adjourned for the veto period — sets various funding limits for emergency responses:

• A $4 million limit for “emergency forest fire suppression” in each fiscal year.
• A $50 million limit for each of the next two fiscal years on funds the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs can use to match federal disaster funding “in the event of a presidentially declared disaster or emergency.”
• A $25 million limit in each fiscal year for Kentucky National Guard operations when an “emergency or exigent situation” is declared by the governor.?

Beshear in a March press conference referenced the next budget’s $25 million funding limit on the Kentucky National Guard and said that lodging at General Butler State Park wouldn’t have been able to be opened for survivors of a Trimble County tornado if the funding limit imposed by the legislature was in place for the current fiscal year.

In a January letter sent to lawmakers, State Budget Director John Hicks said a $50 million limit on matching monies for federal aid hadn’t been exceeded in past fiscal years but could be exceeded in the current fiscal year. Hicks in his letter said a $4 million limit on “emergency forest fire suppression” has never been exceeded.?

This story has been updated with a statement from Senate President Robert Stivers.

Know the signs of heat stroke versus heat exhaustion. (Photo from National Weather Service).

Central Kentucky could see heat indexes higher than 100 degrees this week, according to the National Weather Service, which has issued a hazardous weather outlook.?

The NWS says a slew of Kentucky counties will see heat indexes reach around 100 degrees Tuesday.?

Temperatures will be in the mid-90s Wednesday to Monday with heat indexes over 100.?

Extreme temperatures can be dangerous, leading to heat stroke and exhaustion.?

Stay safe during extreme heat with these tips:?

• Drink plenty of water and non-alcoholic fluids
• Stay out of the sun and in air conditioning?
• Avoid strenuous outdoor activities
• Wear lightweight and loose clothes?
• Take rest breaks often?
• Check on loved ones and acquaintances?
• Don’t leave pets or children alone in cars?
• Call 911 if someone around you experiences heat stroke. Symptoms of heat stroke include headaches, confusion, nausea, dizziness and loss of consciousness, among others.?
• Heat exhaustion symptoms include dizziness, weakness, heavy sweating and more. To combat symptoms, loosen clothing, sip water and move into a cooler area. If symptoms don’t improve, get medical help.?

This story may updated.?

The storm destroyed the top of The Mixer on Sixth Street. The property was originally Young Hardware and dates to the late 1800s. (Hoptown Chronicle photos by Jennifer P. Brown)

A severe thunderstorm with destructive winds — and possibly a tornado — struck late Friday night in downtown Hopkinsville, where it leveled the third floor of The Mixer restaurant on Sixth Street and tore out a brick wall below the historic clock tower on Ninth Street.?

Numerous trees were blown down across the city, blocking streets, striking homes and tearing down power lines. Early Saturday, Hopkinsville Electric System estimated that 8,000 of its 13,000 customers were without power.?

“This is really hard to take,” Mayor James R. Knight Jr. said early Saturday morning as he stood near The Mixer restaurant. “It means a lot to downtown … what they’ve put into this building and into downtown. I’m grateful no one was hurt.”

No serious injuries were reported in the city. Western Kentucky was under a tornado watch and a wind advisory Friday night. Gov. Andy Beshear had declared a state of emergency in advance of the storm.

“We’ve got trees out all over town laying across streets. Our public works has been on it all night,” Knight said.?

“Sixteenth Street got hit really hard,” he said. “A lot of the downtown businesses have glass out.”

Several streets were blocked because of fallen trees and debris from buildings. As the morning wore on, the grind of chain saws could be heard. Utility crews were out everywhere. An employee of Hopkinsville Electric said his crew was at the utility before the storm hit so they would be ready to go out as soon as damage reports started to came in.?

The storm hurled bricks, lumber, roofing material and insulation from The Mixer to Hopkinsville Brewing Co. on Fifth Street and to the senior apartment building on Fourth Street.

Brewery co-owner Kate Russell lives near downtown and heard the storm from her home around 11 p.m.

“I heard it and then we lost power, and it stopped and I thought it was over,” she said.?

An hour later, Graham Dawson, who owns The Mixer with his wife, Heather Dawson, called Russell and said the restaurant’s third floor had collapsed and there was damage at the brewery. Glass was shattered in several of the brewery’s windows and doors. Signs from The Mixer were in the street next to the brewery.

Knight, who ate dinner around 7 p.m. Friday at The Mixer, said the restaurant was closed when the storm struck but employees and the Dawsons were still in the building. They were able to get out safely, said the mayor. He spoke later to the Dawsons and the building’s owner, Hal McCoy, and said he understood they want to repair the building.

McCoy developed the restaurant property from the former Young Hardware building, which dates to the late 1800s. The restaurant, which opened in December 2019 and weathered pandemic closures, is considered a key business in the downtown revival.?

At the brewery, Russell was waiting Saturday morning for help from friends at Henderson Brewing, who offered to send a truck to pick up some of the beer that she feared would spoil before power was restored.?

Other properties that sustained storm damages included:

• Union Benevolent Society Cemetery on Vine Street, where a large tree was down and a few headstones appeared to be broken by the storm.?
• Several houses on Main Street and South Virginia Street, where trees had fallen onto houses and utility lines.?
• Cooper Still liquor store on Fourth Street had roof damage.?
• The former Marathon convenience store and Family Dollar on Ninth Street between Walnut and Campbell streets, both of which were also hit in the Jan. 1, 2022, tornado, sustained damages again.
• The Oddfellows Building at Ninth and Virginia streets had a third-story window blown out.?
• A warehouse building at Second and Clay streets was leveled.?
• The Phoenix building at Ninth and Main streets, which is condemned, had several windows blown out. The sidewalks were littered with glass.
• Blue Streak Printers, on Ninth Street adjacent to the Phoenix, had a large window blown out.

This story will be updated.

This article is republished from Hoptown Chronicle.

Following extremely cold temperatures and wind chills across Kentucky, three persons have died, Gov. Andy Beshear said Friday.?

In a morning news briefing, the governor said one of the victims died in a vehicle accident in Western Kentucky. The other was a person with insecure housing in Louisville. About an hour later, Beshear said in a tweet that a third fatality had occurred.?

As an arctic front settled across Kentucky Thursday evening into Friday, temperatures went into the single digits and snow accumulated in parts of the state. The National Weather Service’s Jackson office recorded a local temperature of -2 degrees late Friday morning. Around the same time, the Louisville office said the temperature was -3 degrees in that area.?

The governor also noted some wrecks on interstates, which included I-64 in Scott County and on I-71 in Gallatin County.?

“Last night, we had most people stay off the roads, which last night had led to really only one major backup across Kentucky. We have a smaller one in Louisville, but that was resolved, but it appears now some more people are getting out on the roads now that’s light. It’s not safe,” Beshear said. “ So, now we have two interstate backups that can create dangerous situations. So, please stay home. Stay safe. Stay off the roads. Stay alive.”?

Officials had taken steps to winterize travel trailers housing victims of flooding and tornadoes. The governor said that work had largely been effective, but two trailers had issues with water in Eastern Kentucky and another with heating in Western Kentucky. The families are safe and maintenance is underway.?

“Staying off the roads today is still the best guidance,” said Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray. He said commercial wrecker services, Kentucky State Police and the Kentucky National Guard are also partnering with KYTC workers.?

Current travel information can be found at snowky.ky.gov.?

To find a local warming shelter, contact your county’s emergency management agency and follow them on social media. Local first responders’ accounts may post warming center information. State parks are also acting as backup warming centers. Contact the one closest to you for availability.?

A year after the tornado, campers at Camp Graves provided transitional housing for some who lost their homes during the December 2021 tornado. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Julia Rendleman)

Ahead of anticipated extreme freezing temperatures as part of an arctic front across Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency and signed an executive order to prevent price gouging.?

The governor and other administration officials stressed preparation for the weather in a Wednesday news conference. Beshear urged Kentuckians to stay home Thursday into Sunday and take steps to prepare, such as putting together an emergency vehicle kit or making a plan in case the power goes out. Those planning to travel, especially during the holiday weekend, should arrive at their destinations by midday Thursday.?

“We’ve been through too many natural disasters. We’ve been through too much. We’ve lost far too many people,” he said. “So everybody, let’s be prepared for this and let’s make sure every single individual gets through it.”??

The National Weather Service’s Louisville office said in a special weather statement that rain in that area is expected to change to snow Thursday evening as a strong cold front enters the area. Minor snow accumulations will be accompanied by temperatures quickly falling into single digits. Wind chills are expected to be 10 to 20 below zero.?

The Jackson office said in a similar statement that a potent arctic cold front and a low pressure area is expected to cause gusty rain showers to change to snow Thursday night in that region. Temperatures will rapidly fall and some light snow accumulations are expected. Wind chills are also expected to be 10 degrees to 20 degrees below zero with colder readings possible at elevations above 2,000 feet.?

The emergency declaration allows state resources to be “available and ready to go,” Beshear said. The executive order would prevent price increases on necessary items.?

Counties have been asked to open at least one warming center location. State parks will act as backup warming centers. Eastern Kentucky families in travel trailers will have access to Jenny Wiley and Buckhorn Lake state parks in case their travel trailers lose power or water. Travel trailers were recently equipped with larger than normal propane tanks, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Jeremy Slinker said. Park updates can be found on parks.ky.gov.

Officials said to keep in mind some of the following when preparing for the winter weather:

• Know where your local warming center is.
• Have gas in your car and make an emergency vehicle kit that includes items such as blankets, chargers, flashlights, water and food.
• Have a backup heat source in case of power outages.?
• Monitor local news, radio and social media for immediate updates.
• Be mindful of carbon monoxide and fire hazards when using alternative heating sources. Use a monitor to detect harmful levels of carbon monoxide and know the signs of poisoning. According to the Center for Disease Control, symptoms include “headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion.”?

Lexington’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention activated its Emergency Winter Weather Plan last week, which is in effect Thursday through next Wednesday. Updates and additional information can be found at www.bereadylexington.com.

In Louisville, the city’s Operation White Flag system will begin when wind chills reach below 35 degrees. Three shelters participate in the operation and more details can be found on the city’s website.?