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Officials in flood-prone counties use several strategies to reduce damage to people, property

With about 40 miles of land along the Kentucky River, officials in Woodford County are working to reduce the threat of flooding, as shown here in 2021.
Woodford Planning and Zoning Commission
With about 40 miles of land along the Kentucky River, officials in Woodford County are working to reduce the threat of flooding, as shown here in 2021.

Flooding is something Kentuckians have become very familiar with the last few years. With about 40 miles of land along the Kentucky River, Woodford County has a lot to deal with when the river rises. Woodford Emergency Management Drew Chandler said county officials are working to mitigate the damage to property and people.

“So there's a lot of different strategies. One of them is to remove the people and their property from a flood-prone area through an acquisition and demolition process.”

Chandler said other options include elevating homes in flood-prone areas and drainage improvement projects. As for the voluntary buy-outs, some people just don’t want to move.

“They just love being on the river and they're willing to take that one day year risk of having flood another family, you just financially it did not make sense. They wouldn't be able to replace what they had somewhere else.”

The voluntary buy-out program is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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John McGary is a Lexington native and Navy veteran with three decades of radio, television and newspaper experience.
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