music >> The recommendation is turn around, don't drown, because it doesn't take that much water to cause a vehicle to not be able to pass through it and sweep a vehicle downstream. [MUSIC] >> Be careful out there. There's high water and downed trees, and the stormy weather isn't over yet. [MUSIC] >> I really believe we haven't seen anything like this since the 1950s. [MUSIC] >> Some Appalachians believe data centers are the future, but not everyone feels the same.
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And is the Bluegrass State about to become the armadillo State? [MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund. >> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition. On this rainy Thursday, June the 18th, I'm Renee Shaw. We thank you for spending some of your Thursday night with us. Many Kentuckians woke up to weather warnings, downed trees, flooded roads and
power outages. Heavy downpours continue for part of the state as flooding becomes the main concern. Tonight, our Kristy Dutton tells us who was hit the hardest and who may see even more severe weather tonight. Kristy. >> This powerful storm system moved through overnight into the early morning hours, leaving damage in many communities. And even now, we still have several counties under flood watches and flood
warnings. Take a look at this map from the Kentucky Mesonet showing the maximum wind gusts over the last 24 hours, including when that storm system moved through. We have wind gusts close to 40 miles an hour around E-Town, also around the Lexington area, 43 mile an hour wind gusts there in Mercer County, 50 to 60 mile an hour wind gusts around Henry Carroll
Trimble County. And take a look at this right here, 114 mile an hour wind gusts that is Mason County in the city of Maysville that was recorded by the Kentucky Mesonet Weather Station there. If that verifies, that's going to be the second fastest wind gust ever recorded in Kentucky, the first being from those Western Kentucky
tornado. That was in December of 2021, attached to many of these Mesonet stations is a camera, and we got a hold of a two hour time lapse from that camera there in Maysville. Things were relatively calm at first, you can see. But right as those winds pick up, right as the storm system moves through, this camera was knocked offline, right as it recorded that 114 mile an hour wind gusts. So they'll be out
there fixing that. Also out there right now is the National Weather Service doing damage surveys to determine if that's from straight line winds or if it's from a tornado. Earlier today, I got to speak to our meteorologist from the National Weather Service, John Wilson, about which communities bear the brunt of this storm. >> So far, the areas that have been hardest hit. There are two distinct areas, one with more severe weather and then one with more flash flooding issues.
So the severe weather area, the one where we could have potentially had some tornadic activity, if not for sure, strong straight line winds that was up in far northeastern Kentucky, specifically Maysville and Florence. Both of those areas had at least strong straight line winds, if not potentially a tornado or two in that part of Kentucky. And then elsewhere. We're tracking flash flood issues. And the main issues for that are further south of where the main line of
severe weather was. So from a line roughly from the Bardstown area all the way over into Madison County, that's where we've seen the greatest rainfall totals anywhere from 3 to 4 plus inches that happen again all before dawn this morning. And we've had reports of some road closures, some home flooding, and just various impacts related to that much rain that fell only over the course of just a few hours.
>> Okay. And I know a lot of us woke up to tornado sirens or heard them early this morning. Do we do you know of any areas that the National Weather Service will be going out to do surveys to determine if a tornado occurred or not? >> Yes. So the National Weather Service Office in Wilmington, Ohio, their forecast area is actually in parts of Northern Kentucky. So they forecast for not only parts of Ohio and Indiana, but into northern
Kentucky. And that is the focus of where the tornado surveys are taking place. So there's a tornado survey that's going to be taking place in the Florence area. And then also another tornado survey taking place in the Maysville area. And in addition to those two, if they have any other reports of damage that come in or if they notice, looking back on radar data, if something looks like it could have been tornadic, they'll go back and survey those areas as well. >> Let's talk about the
flooding. So there is still an ongoing concern with flooding and the rain in some areas, especially there in southern Kentucky still falling. What do we need to watch out for there? >> The main risk area for flooding through the day will be in southern and eastern Kentucky. And anytime we talk potential hydro issues in Eastern Kentucky, it's always a big risk area with the terrain in that part of the state. So that's our biggest focus
through the day. Today is southern and in particular eastern parts of the state. >> Okay. And I know National Weather Service always says turn around, don't drown. You want to give one last reminder? >> Yeah, turn around, don't drown. And the reason is, is because you don't know how deep water is when you get into it. If you can't see the ground below it, there's no way to really know how deep the water
is. And so the recommendation is turn around, don't drown, because it doesn't take that much water to cause a vehicle to not be able to pass through it and sweep a vehicle downstream. >> Turn around, don't drown. That is always great advice. And hey, we're not in the clear just yet. The Weather Prediction Center has the southern half of the state under a slight risk of excessive rainfall tonight through the overnight and early
tomorrow morning. So, Renee, it was a reminder to make sure, especially if you're in the southern half of the state, to make sure you have a way to receive weather warnings overnight, even after you go to bed, either by a weather radio or by your emergency alerts on your cell phone. Renee, back to you. >> Thank you. Our meteorologist, Christie Dutton. Thank you for
all of that. Now, we caught up with the mayor of Florence to get an update on an iconic Kentucky structure, the Florence Y'all water Tower. More in our weather and climate coverage. >> You know, I think we're doing as best we can in the situation. Our residents are impacted, our businesses are impacted, our city operations are impacted, but we do have emergency plans that have been put into place, and we're working through those plans.
>> Were there any at this time that we know of at this time of us speaking this afternoon? Any confirmed tornadoes or any injuries there in Florence? >> So the National Weather Service is on the ground. They haven't confirmed a tornado yet. We do know there's very strong straight line winds, lots of damage, lots of property damage, but fortunately no personal injury. So that's that's really good news.
>> Gotcha. And I know there were some rumors about, you know, damage to the iconic Florence y'all water tower. Can you tell us what's, you know, what's fact and what's fiction? What's actually happened to the water tower there? >> You know, our beloved water tower is okay. I want to reassure people that it is okay. We had a loss of power. And at that time, there was a filling of the water tower. We get our water from Greater Cincinnati
Water Works. And so they were routinely filling that water tower. And when the electric went off, the pumps weren't able to work and pump it. And there's, you know, built in safety features, and one of which is to have a discharge of water. So it operated and functioned as it was supposed to in case of emergency. We will continue to have water service because we have redundancy in our water system. So there's no danger for the public that we wouldn't have
any water system service. But the water tower is fine. >> Good. We're happy to hear that it's unharmed. It's still standing. Finally, mayor. What? What do things look like going forward? What kind of even power outages are you are dealing with now? And kind of what's the next plans for you all? >> So our government center is having some issues with internet and phones. So some of our services may not be
available. We have cruisers who are working to supply the power to our intersections with the stoplights. And so we still have cruisers doing that at our major thoroughfares, such as 1842, Mall Road, those kinds of things. And then we still have a lot of power out, a lot of our businesses out. I did have an opportunity to meet with business owners this morning. They are assessing their losses and their damage to their building so the residents are affected. The businesses are
affected. Our city operations are affected. When something like this happens, the best thing is to have a good communication. So we're happy and fortunate and good partnerships. >> Absolutely. Well, we'll keep our eyes out for any updates. Mayor Julie Metzger, thank you for taking the time to share this with us. And we wish you all a very speedy recovery that everything can get back up and going soon. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> And thanks to our Emily
Prince for that interview. Now, as you heard Kristie Dutton say earlier, the storm brought historic winds to Maysville along the Ohio River in northern Kentucky. Kentucky Edition spoke to Maysville Mayor about the damage there. As we continue our weather and storm coverage. >> We have significant damage across the city. We haven't got it substantiated yet yet, but that was the reading that we
got was 114mph. And we are asking the National Weather Service to come in and do an assessment of whether there was actually tornadoes or straight winds, but it was very, very strong and very damaging, especially to the trees and then to the properties as well. But and scary for some of our residents. But thankfully, to my knowledge, no one has been hurt. There were four roads that were shut down, but there were X. There were a lot more roads with actual damage and
trees down. Once the electric companies got the the power turned off where it was safe for our guys. Then they could go and remove the trees and open up the streets, because there were several streets that had to be closed early this morning because of the power lines down and the trees down.
We did a post out, you know, just if there's emergencies, getting those people that live on those streets, being able to get out and to get services if there is emergencies there, and then otherwise it's to get those streets back open, get the debris up so that it's not a hazardous to, to folks that are out and about and then helping our businesses and our citizens get their electric and anything else they need back in order. Again, it's making sure
that everybody is safe. That's our first priority is personal safety for folks. And then to make sure that they have their utilities working and back on, and then helping just kind of get their lives back together. And, you know, some have reached out already of wanting to know if it was a tornado because it makes a difference on their insurance. So doing all the follow up that comes afterwards and providing that
information to our citizens. So they, they have it if what's needed that's important as we go forward and just being there to support them, help them through whatever they need. We're a very close knit, caring community, and people are always jumping in to help their neighbors and just make sure they have what they need. >> Neighbors helping neighbors. Well, on to state government
news now. The Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity held its first meeting of the interim session in Frankfort, focusing on crime police chiefs from Kentucky's three largest cities, Louisville, Lexington and Bowling Green testified about their approach to community policing. They also shared what the Kentucky General Assembly can do to support them. Here's more from Kentucky Edition's Clayton Dalton.
>> Michael Delaney became the Bowling Green police chief in 2020 shortly after getting the top job. He said he knew his department needed to change. >> I had a command staff meeting and I went around the room and I asked him. I said, name one thing that we do that's not driven by the public. That's self-initiated from our police department. That's community, community policing. And it was silence.
>> Community policing is a philosophy where police agencies and the people they serve work together to prevent crime, rather than officers only responding after something has gone wrong. It requires cops to be engaged with residents, businesses, schools and churches. >> To really solve crime. In my opinion, you have to be involved in the community, and we started a community engagement team. In the last five years, they've participated in over 3000
events. We went from solving 33% of our homicides to 100%, but that's based off of the community trust and people believing the message and the vision that their police department is sharing with them. >> The police chiefs in Louisville and Lexington said they've had to shift recruiting efforts to seek out new officers.
>> Traditionally, our recruiting method has been people who want to do this job come to us, and at a certain point that becomes a repeating prophecy of you become more of who you are. And so until you're able to reach out and have people that are willing to go into the community and say, hey, this person might not look like me, talk like me, sound like me, but I think they can do this job well. That's key. >> We want people that love the
community that they're in. So when they become police officers, they seek out those connections. They still try to maintain that caring attitude and that love of the community. And that's what community policing is about for us. >> State Representative Nima Kulkarni, a Democrat from Louisville, asked how these departments are addressing fear of law enforcement in immigrant communities. >> We want our community to come into the police department and learn about their police
departments, not ours. It's theirs. We're servants of the public, and we were still not seeing the population of people, the diversity of people to come through our community police academy. So we had the bright idea, why don't we have a Hispanic only community police academy? And we had 30, so 30 people for our first class. And it was like, okay, that was good. A lot of tough questions.
We answered honestly and openly, and they took something away from it, a sense of confidence in knowing that we were there for them. This year, we're going to have two community police academies, regular one Hispanic Community Police Academy, and one for Bosnians. >> Our job is that when you need the police, we come and we serve you. We don't ask your immigration status. We don't
ask where you're from. We're here to take care of you and making sure that that is a continuing, ongoing message of who Lmpd is and what we're here for is extremely important. >> When asked how the General Assembly can support Kentucky police departments, the focus shifted to growing concern over juvenile crime, particularly in Louisville. >> The juvenile detention center in Louisville absolutely needs to get built as quickly as possible. It is a disservice to the kids that we are
arresting that one. They are they are getting the message that there are no consequences because of the turnover and putting them back out on the street. Two, it's unfair that they have to travel as far as they do, be away from their family, be away from their representation, and then have to get on a bus at 3 or 4:00 in the morning to go to court. That's not right. They also would have better access to the services that will keep them from being involved in a life of crime in an ongoing way,
plain and simple. That needs to get done, not just because the police want it, but because it's what's best for the kids. >> The juvenile facility Humphrey referenced closed in 2019 due to staffing and safety issues. In 2023, the General Assembly directed $40 million to reopen it for Kentucky Edition. I'm Clayton Dalton. >> Thank you so much, Clayton. Last year, the Louisville Metro Council passed a bipartisan resolution calling on Governor Andy Beshear to expedite
reopening the facility. State officials say the Youth Transitional Services building should be operating in the spring of 2027. There's data center news tonight seem like we do this every night, and it's all over Kentucky. According to KY Bowling Greens City Commission approved new regulations for future data center development, but they rejected a six month review period to review the impact of
potential data centers. W PTSD says this week, the Murray Planning Commission in Western Kentucky modified the current draft of its data center ordinance to deal with annual reports, permit renewals and increasing distance from wetlands and X TV and Lexington says the Versailles City Commission voted Tuesday for a moratorium on all data center development for the rest of
2026. As we've previously reported, Northeast Kentucky may soon be home to the largest data center in the state, but the project has divided the community. Last night, the company behind the data center, Terre Wolfe, held a town hall meeting to explain more details to the public. Our Emily Prince was there and has the latest from Boyd County. >> Representatives from Terre Wolfe made their way to Boyd County last night, hoping to clear the air on their proposed
data center. The company, which is headquartered in Maryland, is leading the charge on both this data center campus and a smaller center in Hancock County in western Kentucky, a leader from the company said. They've hosted town halls in every community they plan to develop in. >> This is the start of a relationship. We want to be in this community for for 15, 20 years, and we're not going to be good neighbors unless we get to know one another.
>> Here at East Park Industrial Park, on the edge of Boyd and Greenup counties, is where Terre Wolfe plans to own and operate a data center. They say that data center will be about 285 acres, and the lot they plan to build it on. They say it's been vacant for about 20 years. >> The characteristics of this site are really wonderful. You've got an industrial, industrially zoned site, you have infrastructure wires, you have power sources nearby.
>> But not everyone is optimistic about the project. Many people voiced concerns over environmental impacts like water runoff and wildlife disruption. >> I think that that's something that they see as something willing to sacrifice and that they're going to do it. I asked them what environmental studies have they have they referenced to see their impact, and they said they haven't done any studies yet. And they're just coming in here bulldozing ahead.
>> Terre Wolfe employees said the sound from the data center should be equivalent to the hum of a refrigerator or air conditioner. The vice president of development said they expect trees in the area to, quote, completely absorb any noise when it comes to water usage, Terre Wolfe representatives said the center will operate on a closed loop cooling system and should use around 5000
gallons of water daily. That water supply would need to be replaced every ten years, and there were unanswered questions about where it would be dumped. The business manager of the local trades council said. Other industrial facilities in the area require much more water. >> Tara Wolfe would be a drop in the bucket to the water usage that a lot of industrial plants use for cooling. >> Some attendees weren't as trusting in the company. >> I don't believe that it's as
efficient as they say. I do believe that it's more efficient than what we see mostly in the news. But I, I very much question only using 5000 gallons. >> A day. And on the note of electricity, representatives said they're entering into a 20 year agreement with Kentucky Power and ratepayers. Utility bills should not be affected. There was also an emphasis on the possibility of jobs, both temporary and permanent.
>> There's 80 to 100 really high paying good jobs that go with the data center, which does not include construction jobs. >> John Holbrook said he's working with the company to secure a partnership with local trades workers. He believes the site could employ thousands of construction workers. >> There's going to be a major opportunity. I really believe we haven't seen anything like this since the 1950s.
>> Tara Wolfe also said they estimate to bring in $1.5 billion in local and state tax revenue over the course of 15 years. Some residents were skeptical, however, in the longevity of the company and the project. >> I don't think it's going to last. I think this will be abandoned within ten years. >> Tara Wolfe rebutted that claim, saying they're serious about investing 3 to $4 billion into this site. >> That is an enormous investment influx of capital to
walk away from. Data is here to stay. >> For Kentucky Edition. I'm Emily Prince. >> Thank you >> MLA. Representatives from Tara Wolfe said they plan to return for more town halls in the future. Their goal is to have phase one of the data center complete in 2028. More than 100 delivery workers are out of work in western Kentucky, and Kentucky isn't known for armadillos, but that's changing. Our Toby Gibbs has more in this look at headlines around Kentucky.
>> This week, a Fayette County grand jury indicted 20 year old Cadence Carpenter. [MUSIC] The Courier-Journal reports she's accused of driving into a crowd of pedestrians in March. Police accuse her of doing it on purpose while under the influence of alcohol. And police say when they stopped her, she had a fake ID along with her driver's license. Carpenter pleaded not guilty while in court. March 23rd. From the Paducah Sun. Precision Parcel Logistics has laid off nearly 100 workers.
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The company was an Amazon delivery service partner, but that relationship is ending. [MUSIC] One worker told the newspaper the move was unexpected. Amazon says it's helping employees find opportunities with other delivery service partners in the area. From Owensboro, a company is thinking about building a natural gas fired power plant on property owned by Owensboro Municipal Utilities. The Ohmu property used to be the Elmer Smith
station. It closed in 2024. [MUSIC] The Messenger-inquirer reports green River East Genco is proposing a 545 megawatt plant. Even if the project goes forward. Ohmu says construction would be years away. You probably don't think Kentucky when you hear the word armadillo, but the nine banded armadillo is showing up in Kentucky. WKU Public Radio says someone first spotted an armadillo in the Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, 25 miles south of Louisville, in 2024.
Now, they've been found in 63 of Kentucky's 120 counties. [MUSIC] It's because of warmer temperature trends. Average temperatures in Kentucky have increased by almost three degrees since 1970, and the nine banded armadillo is gradually moving north as a result. It's not just Kentucky. They're also showing up in Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana. With headlines around Kentucky. I'm Toby Gibbs.
>> That will do it for us tonight, but we hope you'll join us again tomorrow night for a special Kentucky edition with stories that represent the heart of Kentucky culture, everything from swinging bridges to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. There are new ways to enjoy the trail, and we'll tell you all about that and the big economic impact it has on the state. That and more tomorrow on Kentucky Edition. The Juneteenth edition. We appreciate you being with us
tonight. We hope to see you tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central, where we inform, connect and inspire. Connect with us all the ways you see on your screen. The social media channels. Stream our content online@ket.org. Look for us on the PBS app that you can download and of course, send us a story idea by email to the email on your screen. Thanks for watching. Have a great three day weekend if that's for you, and we'll see you again very soon. Take good care.