tornado

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is continuing its efforts to help Kentucky recover from the historic and deadly western Kentucky tornado outbreak over a year after the disaster.

One year after a record tornado, some Bowling Green residents still aren’t home for the holidays. From emergency shelters and hotels to travel trailers and temporary apartments, most have improved their housing situation somewhat, but many still lack a permanent place to call home.

The museum, dedicated to telling the history of African-Americans in Bowling Green, was nearly lost due to an electrical fire only weeks after a deadly tornado devastated the area.

One of those communities was the far western Kentucky city of Mayfield. An EF-4 tornado careened through the Graves County seat, badly damaging the community’s historic downtown, damaging or destroying thousands of homes and bringing down the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, trapping more than 90 people inside.

Hundreds of businesses throughout western and central Kentucky were damaged or destroyed in last December’s tornado outbreak. The 12 months since the storm have brought supply chain issues, insurance delays, and a groundswell of community support.

The storm disproportionately impacted the city’s diverse international community and left many resettling all over again.

A Hopkins County group unveiled a memorial to victims of last December’s tornado outbreak this weekend less than a month before the one-year anniversary of the disaster.

A new, independently produced documentary featuring interviews with victims of the December 2021 tornado outbreak in western and central Kentucky is set to premiere later this week.

Residents are still recovering from the damage. Despite those recovery efforts, representatives from those places came to the fair to remind people they are still standing.

The tornado that struck Bowling Green in December caused major damage to nearly 500 local houses and apartments, displacing about 800 individuals. Many are still without permanent housing, but one non-profit will have some families into new homes by this fall.