After the 2021 tornadoes and 2022 floods, Kentucky communities faced the work of keeping people safe and rebuilding. But recovery also meant protecting what makes people want and need to remain in a place: farms and livelihoods, homes, gathering spaces, and cultural assets that cannot simply be replaced.
UK's response grew from a simple premise: disaster recovery is also place recovery. Extension provides the trusted local backbone, helping communities identify what they need and connecting them with university faculty and partners. Lessons from response become tools, training, designs, and partnerships communities can use before the next disaster.
The model is statewide, but the response is place-specific. In tornado-affected Western Kentucky, that meant restoring agricultural research and producer capacity while communities such as Mayfield and Fulton considered downtowns and public spaces as part of long-term recovery. In flood-affected Eastern Kentucky, it meant confronting where people live, how communities are connected through narrow valleys and riverways, where housing can safely go, and how cultural institutions help hold communities together.
