Latest news with #easternKentucky
CBS News
27-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Bear found sitting on stove inside Kentucky home after crashing through ceiling
A black bear crashed through the ceiling of a home in southeastern Kentucky last week and ended up on top of a stove, state wildlife officials said. Photos show the furry intruder perched on top of the stove in the kitchen, where a warden and local sheriff's deputy discovered the animal before chasing it from the property through an open door. The incident happened at a Bell County residence last Wednesday at around 5 a.m., according to the law enforcement branch of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. "After taking a look around, it was determined that the bear had climbed up a ladder outside and squeezed through an opening in the attic," the department said in a Facebook post. "The bear then fell through the ceiling into the residence below." A black bear was found sitting on a stove insider a home in Kentucky, officials said. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement/Facebook Another photo, taken inside the house, showed a square-shaped hole in the ceiling where the bear apparently burst through as it fell. Officials did not estimate the size of the bear or say whether the animal was injured. Following a gradual population decline in the region, black bears have returned to Kentucky over the last two decades and are inhabiting the state in increasing numbers, according to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, which says the animals are primarily found in eastern areas. Wildlife officials also note that black bears are typically elusive and tend to avoid humans unless they have been exposed to sources of human food. That and their curiosity mean seeing bears near places where people live "is relatively common" in parts of Kentucky, the Fish and Wildlife department writes on its website. "Bears have an incredible sense of smell and are likely being lured by some type of food attractant. These attractants typically include garbage, pet food, and birdfeeders," the site reads. "The best thing to do is identify the attractant and remove the source. Bears will move on after realizing their is no food to be obtained."
Washington Post
17-05-2025
- Climate
- Washington Post
How an understaffed Kentucky weather office took on a tornado
If not for the storms, the critically understaffed National Weather Service office responsible for monitoring weather hazards across eastern Kentucky would have gone dark by midnight. It's one of a growing number the agency's local offices that have been unable to cover an overnight shift since the Trump administration significantly reduced staffing levels through buyouts and firings earlier this year.
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
A Kentucky Weather Office Scrambles for Staffing as Severe Storms Bear Down
A National Weather Service office in eastern Kentucky was scrambling to cover the overnight forecast on Friday as severe storms were moving through much of the eastern United States, according to the union that represents the department's meteorologists. Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the union that represents Weather Service employees, said the office in Jackson, Ky., was one of four that no longer had a permanent overnight forecaster after hundreds of people left the agency as a result of cuts ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency, the initiative led by Elon Musk that is reshaping the federal bureaucracy. Mr. Fahy said on Friday that because of the threat for flooding, hail and tornadoes facing eastern Kentucky, the Weather Service had to find forecasting help for the office. A spokeswoman for the Weather Service said the Jackson office would be relying on nearby offices for support through the weekend. Multiple rounds of storms passed through eastern Kentucky on Friday morning and afternoon, and the overnight hours were expected to be stormy. A line of thunderstorms was forecast to sweep the region overnight, whipping up damaging winds and large hail. There is also a chance for isolated supercells, long-lasting storms that can deliver even stronger winds and bigger hail than typical thunderstorms and also generate tornadoes. Much of Kentucky, including a portion of the eastern section, is within the bull's-eye of an area under what the Storm Prediction Center calls a 'moderate' threat — a four out of five in its levels of risk — of severe thunderstorms. 'It's very rare that we see a moderate risk in our area, so I think people are aware,' said Jane Marie Wix, a meteorologist at the Weather Service office in Jackson. By late Saturday morning, quieter weather and drier conditions are expected and will most likely continue into Sunday morning, before a chance for additional storms arrives close to the borders of Virginia and Tennessee by the middle of the day. It is not unusual for a forecasting office to rearrange staff members for extreme weather. But until recently, most would have at least two or three people scheduled around the clock. Three other offices, in northwestern Kansas, Sacramento and Hanford, Calif., also no longer have forecasters overnight, Mr. Fahy said, and four more, in Cheyenne, Wyo., Marquette, Mich., Pendleton, Ore., and Fairbanks, Alaska, are days away from the same fate. 'For most of the last half century NWS has been a 24/7 operation — not anymore,' Mr. Fahy said. Nearly 600 people have left the Weather Service in recent months, through a combination of layoffs and retirements, after the Trump administration demanded that it and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, make significant cuts. The Weather Service's 122 forecasting offices have traditionally operated 24 hours a day, with each one responsible for monitoring the weather in its region. Because of the staffing cuts, some offices have also curtailed the twice-daily launches of weather balloons that collect data that fuels daily forecasts and forecast models. An agreement last month between the Weather Service and its employees' union warned of 'degraded' services as more people leave, and five of the department's former directors recently wrote an open letter saying they feared the cuts had been so deep that lives would soon be endangered. Kim Doster, a spokeswoman for NOAA, confirmed this week that 'several local NWS offices are temporarily operating below around-the-clock staffing.' She said the Weather Service 'does not anticipate a significant impact in services as we work to mitigate potential impacts and direct other regional offices to provide additional support.' The Weather Service has scrambled recently to reorganize staffing, sending forecasters to the offices most deeply affected by the losses. Balloon launches resumed in Omaha after the Nebraska congressional delegation announced that it had persuaded the White House to restore some of the staffing that had been lost there.
