We are now in the closing days of the 30-day 2021 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. Only six legislative days remain after Friday, March 5. Important bills continued to move swiftly through the legislative process last week, and robust debate on critical topics was as prominent as ever.
First, however, I want to speak to recent severe weather events. The governor declared a state of emergency concerning flash flooding, which is affecting communities from far southwestern Kentucky to far southeastern Kentucky. Last week s declaration comes only a week shy of a year since the governor declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19. Both figuratively and literally, it seems we continue to be hit by storms. The pandemic has threatened the elderly and immunocompromised people as well as contributing to an unemployment crisis. Severe winter weather covered our Commonwealth in ice and left our people without power. Most recently, torrential rain has caused flooding of homes
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 10, 2021) A project led by researchers from the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) at the University of Kentucky will soon help officials and residents in west-central Kentucky better understand the risks related to karst and mitigate potential damage from sinkholes.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs, has awarded $293,984 to KGS to develop a multijurisdictional plan for karst mitigation in the Lincoln Trail Area Development District (LTADD).
According to the KGS, karst is a landscape that includes sinkholes, sinking streams, caves and springs. It is formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks like limestone. Kentucky is one of the most famous karst areas of the world, with much of its prime farmland underlain by karst.