(LEX 18) — Kentuckians are no strangers to natural disasters. A year and a half ago, there tornadoes in Western Kentucky. A year ago, many communities in Eastern Kentucky flooded. This week, torrential rain brought flooding to Mayfield. These events keep first responders on their toes.
"In Eastern Kentucky, we were able to help out," said Major Derek Roberts of the Lexington Fire Department.
Individual agencies typically send crews to help out when there's a big disaster, but those operations will soon look different. The state legislature passed a bill, directing Kentucky Emergency Management to develop a statewide program. When that's in place, Roberts said it will help streamline the response, and direct specialized crews right where they're needed, such as the flooding in Mayfield.
"What it does is it pools those collective resources from individuals and individual agencies, whether that's individual fire departments, whether that's technical rescue teams from across the state, and it puts them in one pool and so when that call goes out, you're getting the right people to do the right job at the right time," Roberts said.
Roberts said the implementation of the statewide Urban Search and Rescue Team will also help with operating across jurisdictional lines once it's up and running.
