Eastern KY representative to seek funding for study of flood control along Kentucky River

U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers has asked federal engineers to analyze the deadly flooding in Eastern Kentucky last month with an eye toward trying to limit damage from future floods.

In an Aug. 12 letter to the commander of the Louisville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rogers asked the agency to analyze the flooding while Rogers works to get federal money for an “expansive study” of flooding in the Kentucky River basin.

The goal would be to get funding for flood-control measures, Rogers said in the letter to Col. Eric Crispino.

“To help mitigate future flooding, it is incumbent upon us to use every resource available to take preventative action,” Rogers said.

Roger’s office said the Corps responded to the request and is receptive to looking at flood-mitigation efforts in the Kentucky River basin.

The Louisville office of the Corps oversees the Kentucky River, which originates with three forks in Eastern Kentucky that combine in Lee County before flowing through Central Kentucky to the Ohio River.

Rogers got funding earmarked for the Corps of Engineers to study flood-control measures at Beattyville after high water inundated the city last year. The study has not been completed.

Rogers, a Republican, represents counties in Eastern Kentucky devastated when the North Fork of the Kentucky River and other streams and creeks in the watershed overflowed July 28 after torrential rainfall.

The counties hit the hardest include Breathitt, Knott, Perry, Letcher, Floyd and Pike.

The flooding caused at least 39 deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to houses, businesses and infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

Rogers said in the letter that since being elected to Congress in 1980, he has pushed through more than $800 million for flood-control projects in Eastern and Southern Kentucky, including a series of flood walls and other measures along the Cumberland River from Harlan County to Williamsburg.

“However, we were gravely reminded at the end of July 2022 that our work is not finished, and more mitigation efforts must be addressed in the Kentucky River basin,” Rogers wrote.

It’s not yet clear what kind of flood-mitigation measures could apply in the areas hit by flooding in July, but the Corps doesn’t just build dams and flood walls.

For instance, at Martin, in Floyd County, the agency is carrying out a project to move much of the flood-prone town to higher ground and buy out some properties.

Measures can also include raising structures and relocating people, according to the Corps.