Two years ago, and much like the rest of west Kentucky, officials and citizens of Christian County and Hopkinsville were moving along just fine — natural disasters a bit foreign to daily life.
That changed in December 2021 and later in January 2022, when tornadoes ransacked the region and brought massive damages and loss of life. During Tuesday morning’s Christian County Fiscal Court meeting, Wynn Radford — a representative of the county’s Long-Term Recovery Group — detailed what the last 18 months have been like for the brand-new organization.
Because, as it turns out, Radford noted Christian County had never had an LTRG. The concept of back-to-back terrible disasters, though, brought about a significant need for a leadership arm to collect and reallocate local, regional and federal resources — including large sums of dollars and support — to people with unmet needs.
Radford noted this group “started from scratch,” and in the middle of everything “thankfully” received more than $350,000 in cash and supplies from local non-profit organizations, religious groups and other resources like Team Kentucky, the United Way of the Pennyrile and the Pennyrile Area Development District.
He added operations still include a small board and two employees, and he brought forth a bevy of strong recommendations for the court to consider soon.
— This LTRG needs to be permanent.
— The selection criteria and guidelines for LTRG assistance needs to be even clearer than it is now, in order to better allocate relief funds.
— An improved volunteer plan needs to be in place.
— And a dedicated treasurer should be ready and prepared to handle any and all funds coming in through donations and aid.
Radford said Randy Graham and Christian County Emergency Management did a “phenomenal job” in providing support during these last 18 or so months, but many of these tasks don’t fall under their governmental purview, and they have to be accounted for when major issues come about.
Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam and the court thanked Radford and this team for their concerted efforts, and agreed to take up this action as soon as possible.
Located at 110 W. 2nd Street in Hopkinsville, those still in need now, or in the future, can contact the in-person office at (270) 887-6253, send an email to christiancountyltrg@gmail.com, or send a message to their active Facebook page. They use case management, and offer volunteer and construction coordination, financial planning and crisis counseling when disaster strikes.
