McLean County continues to be impacted by flooding

Yahoo

25-02-2025

Thanks to January and February's rain and snow, McLean County continues to face issues with flooding across the entire county.
County Judge-Executive Curtis Dame issued a local State of Emergency on Saturday in order to allow the county government to help with the flooding relief efforts.
According to the 'Declaration of a local State of Emergency' from the office of the judge-executive, the State of Emergency was issued because current 'conditions endanger the public's health and welfare,' the current 'situation creates a considerable hardship for the citizens of McLean County' and the 'government has the responsibility to protect the public health, safety and welfare and to mitigate the effects of such events.'
The 'Declaration of a local State of Emergency' allows the county to offer assistance to citizens in need. The document also states that 'all agencies of McLean County shall cooperate to the fullest extent and shall provide such assistance as may be required for response to the emergency.' The 'Declaration of a local State of Emergency' also allows the county judge-executive to wave procedures other required by law that pertain to 'performance of public work, entering into contracts, incurring obligations, employment of permanent and temporary workers, utilization of volunteer workers, rental of equipment and appropriation and expenditure of public funds.'
Because of the issued State of Emergency, the McLean County Public School (MCPS) system has been forced to close classrooms to students. Officials have been participating in Nontraditional Instruction (NTI) while students are unable to attend classes on location, but, according to MCPS superintendent Tommy Burrough, Monday was the county's last official NTI day.
'The state only allows 10 NTI days each school year for weather-related and illness-related school closures,' Burrough said. 'We've been out of the classroom since last Tuesday and alternating between traditional closing days and NTI. We had already utilized some days earlier in the year for snow and sickness.
Once the NTI days run out, the county will have to add additional make-up days to the end of the calendar.
'The last I heard, we were set to get out on Friday, May 23, but we're anticipating having several other closures this week, so we'll put out an updated final day of school once we are back in the classroom,' he said.
Last week, the Kentucky House of Representatives passed House Bill 241, which will expand the options for public school districts that have lost time in the classroom due to weather and illness-related closures.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Timmy Truett, a McKee Republican, that would allow the state Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher to grant up to five 'disaster relief student attendance days' to be utilized when schools could provide instruction, even if the students are unable to attend in-person. The bill would also allow Fletcher to waive up to five days required by the state of Kentucky for students to attend school if those days would keep the students in the classroom later than June 4.
Students are typically required by the state to attend school for 170 days and a minimum of 1,062 instructional hours.
The House approved the bill with a vote of 82-7 on Friday morning.
According to Fletcher, as of Friday's vote, 64 of the state's 171 public school districts had already used their 10 allocated NTI days and another 40 school systems, McLean County included, only had one NTI day left.
Burrough said that McLean County will apply for those additional days if the option is available for the district.
'Obviously the best option is to have students physically in the classroom,' Burrough said. 'But at least if we are able to do NTI, the teachers and principals are able to see the kids so that they can keep an eye out on the welfare of the students, which is one of those advantages of having kids actually in the classroom.'
Dame said that the county's designation as a 'Storm Ready' community has allowed emergency management teams to be better prepared to deal with the flooding issues.
'Getting certified as 'Storm Ready' last year has allowed us to have an efficient plan in place to provide better communication between agencies and a better allocation of community resources,' he said.
So far, the county hasn't faced any main road closures, besides a lane closure on Highway 431 outside of Island.
Matt Hughes, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) public information officer, said last week that the closure was due to a landslide that washed away dirt from under the roadway which, in turn, caused one of the roadway's lanes to sink about eight inches. Hughes estimated that the closure will extend into March because the repairs can't be made until the weather warms up.
'As Island residents, we're pretty well used to this,' said McLean County Magistrate Robert Bishop. 'Granted, the flood waters can pose dangers for our community members, but most of us have been through this before and, if they haven't personally, they know someone who has been, so they know how to prepare. Plus, we're such a small community that helps take care of each other. We will persevere.'
Dame said that county officials have used the flood insurance rate mapping from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in order to determine which locations around the county would be most affected by flooding.
'About 60% of McLean County is zone for flooding, so having a proper plan in place is critical for success in times like these,' he said.
Dame said, that with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Daviess County Emergency Management Agency, the county has been able to distribute more than 250 sandbags to residents to assist with the relief efforts.
The Green River at Calhoun crested at around 32 feet over the weekend, which was earlier than initially anticipated by experts. The Green River flooding in Calhoun has left areas like downtown Calhoun and Rumsey underwater.
'We're not too bad off with the river at 32 feet,' Dame said. 'But if we reach in the 34 feet ballpark, that's when we'll have to make alternative plans, especially in the area of emergency services.'
Dame said that those alternate plans would potentially include parking ambulances on higher ground in the Southern area of the county because 'standard emergency routes will be inaccessible.'
He also said that a few county residents have been displaced from their homes because of the flooding, but with help from the Kentucky Red Cross, those individuals have been relocated to safe areas.
McLean County Sheriff Ken Frizzell said that so far all of the emergency systems are functioning as normal, and that they haven't had to help with significant evacuations or water rescue events.
'We've all been here before,' he said. 'So, we all know what to do. Luckily, it seems like the water is starting to go down. Hopefully, the most vulnerable areas of the county will be out of the woods soon.'
Additional information and resources regarding the flooding across the state can be obtained by calling 211 or by texting 898211.
Dame encouraged county residents to follow the McLean County, Kentucky Judge-Executive page on Facebook for flooding updates and other resources and information available to the community.
'We're lucky that we're in a time where social media exists, so it's been easier to keep residents informed about what's happening during the State of Emergency,' Dame said.
The McLean County Senior Services department has also suspended congregate meals and meal delivery services for seniors while the county is under a State of Emergency. The organization said that services will resume when it is safe to do so, and encouraged any senior needing assistance during this time to contact McLean County Senior Services at 270-273-5412.