Response to the Eastern Kentucky floods: "We are committed to the region and its people."

We are deeply saddened by the shocking images coming out of southeastern Kentucky.

Many of our students, research teams, alumni, staff, and faculty live, learn, work, and play in these beautiful mountains. The impacts from this week’s flooding on individuals, families, businesses, and communities are devastating.

We stand with those who are struggling during this difficult time and will work alongside them throughout the recovery process.

We are committed to the region and its people who comprise a significant portion of our student body, research teams, staff, and faculty.

The people of Eastern Kentucky have proven their strength and resilience across generations. We stand with them during this challenging time, and we will be alongside them to adapt, rebuild, and thrive.

As we coordinate short-, mid-, and long-term strategies for directly assisting with recovery efforts, we want to share this list of resources where members of the UK College of Public Health (CPH) family, and beyond, can help the affected communities in the nearer term:

• Appalachian Regional Healthcare Flood Relief Fund
• Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky
• Kentucky Red Cross
• New Frontier Branding's Eastern Kentucky Strong (Flood Relief) T-Shirt
• Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund

For University of Kentucky students, staff, and faculty, here are additional resources and support:

• Student-related issues, such as counseling and basic needs support, please direct individuals to call our UK Center for Support and Intervention (CSI) at 859-257-3755.
• If you or someone you know has been affected by the flooding and needs support, please reach out to us at crisisresponse@uky.edu. For more general questions, calls can be directed to UK Health Corps at 859-218-SAFE.
• If you would like to support the UK community, you can donate to our Basic Needs and Persistence Fund for students or our Crisis Program Gift Fund for faculty and staff.

CPH and the Epidemiology and Environmental Health (EEH) department are deeply committed to understanding and reducing the health-related impacts of extreme weather disasters that are increasing in frequency and severity in the region as our climate changes.

Here are some additional resources by the CDC, NCHH, NIH, NEHA and more, regarding safe and protective ways to clean and help others.

We will continue to monitor and share more resources and opportunities to assist as they become available in the coming days, weeks and beyond.