FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — With devastating weather events becoming more and more prevalent around the Commonwealth, Kentucky State University came up with a way of being a part of the relief effort.
“One of the things we wanted to do was to be more mobile,” said Gil Finley. Mr. Finley is KSU’s community resource director. The new Disaster Recovery trailer that’s now parked outside his office was his idea.
“This was a dream of mine,” he said.
The trailer will be stocked with supplies and taken to people in areas of need following a devastating weather event.
“Medical supplies, baby supplies. One of the things we’re focusing on is children’s supplies,” Finley said while indicating that those can often be at a premium following a disaster.
They spent about $55,000 on the trailer, but the benefits are almost certain to outweigh the cost.
“As you know it’s a long-term process. It doesn’t just end in four weeks, doesn’t end in a couple of months, it takes several years,” said KSU disaster educator, Cameron Sellers. Mr. Sellers said recovery from Hurricane Katrina continues to this day, and that catastrophe took place in 2005.
He isn’t wrong when saying tornadoes in western Kentucky and flooding in eastern Kentucky will take years to recover from. The relief trailer is here to assist in any way possible.
“We kind of hope for it to be a sigh of relief,” Sellers said.
