From February 15 to 16, seven inches of rain fell across Kentucky, causing the worst flooding the state has experienced since 2022. The February storms have caused 22 deaths, necessitated over 1,000 water rescues, and left over 14,000 residents without power. Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky, stated, “This is one of the most serious weather events that we’ve dealt with in at least a decade.” One month later, as the state rebuilds, storm warnings for this week threaten the progress communities have made.
Gov. Beshear described the storms as “a painful, difficult disaster.” Citizens affected by the flooding gathered in temporary shelters across the state. The Red Cross provided over 2,800 overnight shelters and 35,000 meals.
The state has begun to rebuild at both a community and legislative level. Neighboring Appalachian towns from North Carolina and West Virginia are using pre-existing networks from previous rural disasters to provide Kentuckians with support. Chelsea White-Hoglen, a community organizer in Haywood County, North Carolina, stated, “These networks and human-to-human relationships are going to be the strongest and most reliable when we confront these kinds of catastrophes.”
While President Trump has approved Beshear’s request for an Expedited Major Disaster Declaration, the governor is still trying to secure more funding for the state to recover from the floods. On March 13, the Kentucky Senate passed legislation to raise the State’s emergency flood fund cap from $50 million to $100 million for the 2024-2026 state budget. But Beshear warns that this cap barely covers the damages from February’s floods, and leaves no money for future natural disasters; Kentucky has experienced about two natural disasters per year since the governor’s election in 2019.
The February storms come just three years after severe Kentucky flooding in October 2022, which the state is still recovering from. In July 2022, more than 10 inches of rain fell across five days of flash flooding. Forty-five lives were lost. Community members report that many had just begun to move back into their repaired homes when the storm hit this February. Although February’s rainfall was not as severe as the flooding in 2022, the event sparked memories of past tragedy. Amanda Lucas, a respiratory therapist and owner of Crafty Momma Treasures in downtown Whitesburg, said, “The rain, PTSD, so many people have it, just the sound of rain.”
Beyond the immediate threat of surviving flooding, severe rainfall also poses public health concerns around exposure to pathogens and chemicals. Floodwater can contain household, medical, and industrial waste, which puts citizens at risk of ingesting poisonous substances. Moreover, severe rainfall can overflow and damage water systems, which contaminates flood water with sewage waste and exposes citizens to human and animal diseases. While the state has experienced a weather respite for the past month, Kentuckians are now on alert for a storm this weekend. Gov. Beshear has issued a public statement: “This is serious.”
By Lotte Brush