Floyd County officials are spearheading several projects to boost economic and climate resilience in the region, nearly four years after devastating flooding devastated eastern Kentucky.

The July 2022 flooding killed 45 residents and destroyed thousands of homes, leaving a acute housing shortage in Floyd County and beyond. To address this crisis, county officials have turned to multiple strategies combining disaster recovery funding with long-term economic development.

Missy Allen, special projects director for the Floyd County Fiscal Court, said the county received Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds to help secure safe housing. The county is constructing New Hope Estates, a housing project near Prestonsburg designed to place residents outside flood-prone areas.

"All of this has created a huge housing shortage for our county," Allen said. "We want our people to stay here. They want to stay here."

Floyd County received $2 million in state funds to develop Thunder Ridge Industrial Business Park, a 50-acre site on a former racetrack in Prestonsburg. The project is a collaboration between the Floyd County Fiscal Court and the Big Sandy Area Development District, aimed at bringing job opportunities to a region facing steady population decline.

County leaders are also constructing a community resilience hub—a facility designed to provide shelter and emergency aid during disasters while serving as a central gathering place for sharing information on resilience strategies. "Being able to have a central location in our community that people can come to if they are in threat of being flooded," Allen emphasized.

Since the July 2022 flood, eastern Kentucky counties have experienced eight additional FEMA-classified natural disasters, including floods, tornadoes, landslides and mudslides, underscoring the region's vulnerability to repeated weather events and the necessity of ongoing resilience efforts.