Irvine resident looks back on February flooding, thanks emergency departments for their service

IRVINE, Ky. (FOX 56) — August is emergency management awareness month, and with a ton of natural disasters this year, Kentuckians have seen that work in action.

Kelly McClanahan lives in Irvine, and like many residents, she was surrounded by floodwaters back in February of this year.

“We’re the crazy people who live above the river. We have a camera that overlooks the river, and my husband and I are always watching it,” McClanahan said.

Whether it’s flooding, polar plunges, or tornadoes, McClanahan said she knows emergency management has shown up every time ready to serve.

“It was really good preparation here in Estill County in my opinion, especially in 2025. Knowing what to prepare for and seeing the community come together to do that at both the local and at a more government level,” McClanahan said.

For those working in the field, like Estill County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Riddell, it’s dedicated work, but it fuels their drive to serve the community.

“Looking back and knowing or hoping that we actually helped some people here in our community is a good feeling,” Riddell said.

The hope is that no more major disasters come up for the rest of the year, but if they do, McClanahan said she knows help is always just a call away.

“For those that are out there, government and the local level also preparing for it when people are at home sleeping not even thinking about, hey, is it going to rain tomorrow? Those people are out there hard working to prepare for it, to shut roads down, to get people in the community to have knowledge of it. A huge thank you to those individuals,” McClanahan said.

“We always want to learn. We always want to get better, and we feel like in our community that not only as an emergency management, but all the response agencies take that to heart, and they want to provide the best services that they can for the community,” Riddell added.