Kentucky Emergency Management says new USAR teams mobilized statewide as budget nearly fully executed

Eric Gibson, director of Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM), told the legislative budget committee that the agency has built FEMA-designated Type 1 and Type 2 urban search-and-rescue teams, equipped warehouses and expanded training to support statewide responses to recent floods.

Gibson said the effort tapped an initial appropriation of about $16.175 million for start-up equipment and facilities and that KYEM had executed "about 99.4%" of that funding by the close of the fiscal year. He tied purchases and credentialing work to the legislative intent to field a fully typed task force and stressed that the program combines equipment, training and interagency coordination.

Why it matters: The new capability aims to reduce response times and increase rescue capacity during large-scale floods, tornadoes and other disasters. KYEM described a mixed model that deploys state task-force assets alongside local search-and-rescue teams, state police and National Guard hoist/aircraft assets.

Gibson said Kentucky Task Force 1 is based at Bluegrass Station (between Lexington and Winchester) and Task Force 2 is stationed at Wendell Ford, with an incident support team and a helicopter hoist/aquatic rescue (HEART) capability working under the same umbrella. "Over 1,000 applications for people to be a member of this 300-person team," he said, framing strong volunteer interest and a 300-person staffing target.

KYEM officials described recent statewide action during a severe-storm weekend, moving roughly 24 teams into counties such as Cumberland, Metcalfe, Clinton, Madison and Jackson to assist local responders. The agency also reported an estimated 70'80 documented water rescues and assisted evacuations during the recent event, noting that documented counts vary as field reports are reconciled.

Local grants and sustainment: The agency set aside $500,000 per year for local search-and-rescue grants. Gibson said the program distributed approximately $482,000 to 29 teams in one cycle and about $490,000 to 36 teams in the most recent cycle; average award size was reported by the SAR coordinator as "about $20,000." For sustainment, Gibson said roughly $3.5 million is planned for fiscal years 2027 and 2028, with $500,000 of that continuing to support local grants.

Personnel and benefits: Committee members asked whether USAR members would receive job protections and line-of-duty benefits. Gibson outlined a mixed staffing model — some full-time KYEM staff, many loaned on-duty firefighters under mutual-aid arrangements, temporary hires and professional contractors — and said KYEM provides workers' compensation coverage for deployed members. He also said that many local search-and-rescue volunteers are not currently included in line-of-duty death benefits under existing policies.

Federal coordination and recovery: Gibson said multiple counties were meeting FEMA thresholds for assistance and that KYEM was working on damage surveys to support federal requests. He urged the legislature and delegation to press for mitigation dollars under FEMA appeals that could fund buyouts, flood walls and other resilience projects.

What happens next: KYEM will continue sustainment purchases, training and grant cycles; the committee heard requests to review grant sizes for local teams and to consider worker-protection or benefit changes in future sessions.

At the start of the meeting the committee moved to approve the minutes (motion introduced on the record) and approved them by voice vote; the transcript contains no roll-call tally for that item.