Kentucky officials outline recovery needs after widespread February floods, ask legislature to boost disaster funds

Kentucky emergency-management and transportation officials briefed a joint meeting of House and Senate members on the scope of February’s storms and flooding, warning of a long recovery and asking the Legislature to lift a $50 million budget cap and reallocate prior “safe fund” balances to cover debris removal, local infrastructure repairs and liquidity needs.

The update, delivered by John Hicks, secretary of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet and state budget director; Eric Gibson, director of Kentucky Emergency Management; and Jim Gray of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said the event has affected scores of counties, left at least 23 confirmed fatalities, produced widespread power and water outages, and created a large debris and public‑works recovery mission.

Gibson said federal and state teams pre‑staged before the rains and that, as the event shifted eastward, damage patterns changed from riverine flooding in western counties to severe river and flash flooding in the eastern coalfield areas, including Martin, Pike, Perry, Letcher and Clay counties. He said the state had opened multiple disaster recovery centers, conducted door‑to‑door outreach and registered residents for assistance.

"We moved 33 of the state teams into position" and requested federal assistance overnight between Feb. 15 and 16, Gibson said, enabling FEMA swift‑water teams and other out‑of‑state responders to augment local search‑and‑rescue efforts. Hicks and Gibson credited more than 250 National Guard members and multiple local search‑and‑rescue teams with more than 1,500 water rescues.

Why this matters: officials said debris removal and county‑level road and bridge repairs will be the costliest parts of recovery and that the Commonwealth’s existing emergency cap likely will be exhausted. The administration is asking the General Assembly to consider additional appropriations and to transfer available balances from prior disaster response accounts into a new, statewide safe fund.

Officials gave these near‑term figures and operational details: the state reported dispersing $5.5 million in individual assistance within days of the presidential declaration; about 2,005 homes and 272 businesses have been inspected for individual assistance surveys; the administration’s early public‑assistance estimate was roughly $58 million and expected to grow; the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet reported 579 roadway damages and 18 bridges with damage in this event; and state highway closures peaked at 355 and were reduced to 49 by the time of the briefing.

Transportation secretary Jim Gray described operational response: barricades and cone deployments, public advisories through goky.ky.gov and Waze, and direct transport of commodities (he estimated 68 loads carried by 18 drivers). KYTC reported 39 counties with cabinet infrastructure impacts, and noted that 94 bridges had debris accumulation requiring clearing.

Gibson and Gray emphasized the debris mission. Gibson said engineers and Kentucky Emergency Management staff are performing ongoing debris estimates; early spot checks showed roughly 41,000 cubic yards in limited samples but he said that total would expand as assessments continue. He described debris management sites (DMS) and said contractors are expected to segregate vegetative debris, white goods (recyclables), hazardous waste and general trash so that recyclable or vegetative material does not unnecessarily fill landfills.

On siting and disposal, Gibson said Pike County has a near‑complete local landfill expansion with a Tier‑6 permit that county officials are preparing to open for local debris. He said the state has been discussing options with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and expects to seek Category A federal debris funding for counties as estimates are validated.

On funding, Hicks described two finance requests for the Legislature: first, lifting or increasing the current $50 million emergency cap in the biennial budget (the administration has already allocated $21.5 million of that cap, leaving roughly $28.5 million of the current cap available); second, establishing or expanding a new safe fund for this event by redirecting $25 million previously set aside in a Western Kentucky safe fund and about $20 million left over from the Eastern Kentucky 2022 safe fund to meet current needs. Hicks said another $50 million cap tranche becomes available on July 1 under current budget language but cautioned the administration expects to hit the present cap before that date.

Hicks and Gibson described the state’s approach to maximizing FEMA reimbursement: FEMA’s public‑assistance model provides 75% federal cost share for eligible work, with the remaining 25% non‑federal share generally allocated as 13% local and 12% state under current practice. The administration said previous safe funds have been used to assist local governments in covering the local match and short‑term liquidity strains while FEMA processes reimbursements.

Committee members pressed officials on debris destinations, oversight of debris contractors, and whether debris could be sorted to reduce landfill hauling. Gibson said master agreements with debris contractors and state monitors are being used, and he suggested a Commonwealth debris‑management task force as part of the recovery phase to set best practices and enhance oversight.

No formal appropriation vote occurred at the meeting. The administration’s requests were presented to the joint body for consideration; lawmakers said they would weigh the proposals as assessments continue.

Officials described remaining unknowns: continuing damage assessments across many counties, evolving debris tonnage totals, additional county requests for FEMA public assistance and the timing of federal validation. Gibson told lawmakers the event remains in an active recovery phase and that public‑assistance and individual‑assistance totals will grow as teams complete joint damage assessments.

The briefing concluded with lawmakers thanking first responders and emergency staff; officials requested flexibility from the Legislature to address debris, local infrastructure repairs and local liquidity needs while FEMA processes reimbursement claims.