Parts of Eastern Kentucky are still recovering after unprecedented, devastating flooding in late July 2022. A group of researchers at the University of Kentucky want the region to better understand what happened to be better prepared for future flooding events.

The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that from July 25-29, between 14 and 16 inches of rain fell on 13 counties. NWS officials said it was the deadliest nontropical flood event in the United States since the late-1970s. Forty-five people died, 9,000 homes were destroyed and hundreds of families were displaced.

“We want to do everything we can as scientists and engineers to build up the infrastructure to understand, predict and prepare for flash floods in this region,” said Christopher Barton, Ph.D., principal investigator of the nearly $1.1 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

“Rural communities, especially those in the economically disadvantaged Appalachian region, are particularly vulnerable to flash floods,” said Barton, a professor of forest hydrology and watershed management in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. “To best help, we also must understand how climate change and landscape alterations affect flash floods.”

The four-year project is titled “The Flooding in Appalachian Streams and Headwaters Initiative: Mitigating impacts of climate change and flash flooding in Appalachia.”

Project partners include a collaborative group of civil engineers, environmental scientists and social scientists from UK, University of Louisville, Eastern Kentucky University, West Virginia University and Marshall University.

The team will study flash flooding in small headwater streams in Appalachia and then apply that research to develop better early warning systems to help people evacuate their homes and communities before flooding gets worse. 

“Our goal is to use new models, strategically placed sensors, regional flood analyses and insight from community members to understand the terrain and work together to identify specific issues related to flash floods,” said James Fox, Ph.D., project co-principal investigator and professor of civil engineering in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering.

UK’s research will also leverage data from the Robinson Forest, a teaching, research and extension forest administered by the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources in cooperation with the Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability at UK.

Kenton L. Sena, Ph.D., co-principal investigator and senior lecturer in UK’s Lewis Honors College, talks about the importance of UK’s environmental monitoring network that, for the last 50 years, has collected data on precipitation, streamflow, air and water temperature.

“We have one of the most robust climate records in the region,” Sena said. “This data will help explain how flash flooding occurs in small streams and how those small streams contribute to more extreme downstream effects, hopefully leading to the development and implementation of early warning systems.”

This project funding also includes outreach in Eastern Kentucky to help high school and middle school teachers develop programming to support science education and plant trees as part of broader regional reforestation efforts, which is also expected to reduce flooding.

The funding is part of $77.8 million the NSF has invested in 14 projects across the county through NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement-Focused EPSCoR Collaborations Program. Awards support interdisciplinary research teams working across jurisdictions to advance climate change research and build resilience in disproportionately affected communities nationwide.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement Number 2418793. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.