Emergency Management

Clay County Emergency Management is dedicated to protecting the citizens of Clay County, KY. We are responsible for the preparedness and planning, response, recovery and mitigation following county-wide emergency or disaster. Our vision is to create equipped, resilient communities that are safe, secure, and prepared for emergencies or disasters that may face our county.

Preparedness & Planning

Clay Co. Emergency Management coordinates between federal, state, local county and city government entities, private businesses, non-profit organizations and the public at large in preparedness planning. Included are:

• A Local Emergency Preparedness Committee (LEPC). Its function is to provide:
  • joint emergency planning for Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) facilities,
  • training, and
  • public right-to-know outreach.
• A Disaster and Emergency Services network. Its function is a coordination effort of our county first responders for a team approach in preparedness, training, and response during multiagency/multijurisdictional emergencies or disasters.

Response

Not only does our agency respond to natural disasters that may strike our county – emergency management plays a vital role in other efforts from infrastructure failures to incidents such as the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic beginning in March 2020. Our office is also responsible for operating an Emergency Operation Center (EOC) during serious incidents and severe weather occurrences. Clay Co. Emergency Management is also responsible for providing information to the public and media in preparation and during severe weather in and around our county.

Recovery & Mitigation

Recovery begins in the days following an emergency or disaster. However, the devastating effects can last for weeks, months and even years. Beginning with the world-wide pandemic in 2020 and continuing through the flooding of Eastern Kentucky in 2022 can overwhelm even the most prepared organizations.

Working with long term recovery also involves “mitigation” – the action of reducing the severity, seriousness of something. Clay Co. Emergency Management works with many different government organizations in reviewing and looking at ways to improve infrastructure including roadways and bridges in an attempt to avoid the same destruction if a similar disaster hits the same area in the future.

Currently Clay Co. Emergency Management is still involved with open federal declared disasters that have struck our county since 2015.