It is quite fitting that the storm that brought near-hurricane force winds and heavy rain on Friday occurred during the Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM) and the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Severe Weather Preparedness Week — a time when officials stress that being proactive — such as canceling classes ahead of time like both local school districts did last week — could potentially save lives.

According to NWS data, there were between 110-130 thunderstorm risk days — some of which included large hail, damaging winds, flash flooding and tornadoes — in 2022, which equates to approximately one out of every three days of the year that Kentuckians are exposed to severe weather.

Between the December 2021 tornado outbreak in western Kentucky and last year’s flooding in eastern Kentucky, the last few years have shown that knowing how and what to do during a severe weather emergency is essential for response, recovery and survival.

Friday’s storm, which included two reported tornadoes, left hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians without power and five people from different counties across the state have been confirmed dead.

Locally, Franklin County fared better than most. The area received 1.39 inches of rain and recorded wind gusts as high as 70 mph, but no fatalities or injuries were reported, according to Frankfort/Franklin County Office of Emergency Management Director Ray Kinney. Frankfort Plant Board said 7,000-8,000 customers were without power Friday and 2,500 were still waiting to have electric restored on Sunday.

“Ultimately I am just really proud of everybody,” Judge-Executive Michael Mueller told The State Journal. “Between all the first responders and the record number of calls that came into dispatch Friday night. The county and city and everybody worked together. So yeah, it could have been a lot worse.”

While some were quick to criticize local school administrators for using a snow day and state government officials for dismissing state workers early, we believe they were both right calls in order to get folks home safe. We also believe that FCS’ closure on Monday due to thousands of residents still being without electricity was the right thing to do.

If we have learned anything about Kentucky’s crazy weather over the past several years, it is that it is better to be prepared and safe than sorry.

-Frankort State Journal