A 75-year climatology of Kentucky, United States, federal disaster declarations

Disasters have a vast array of impacts on a community, often altering a community’s economy and infrastructure, and in the most extreme cases causing devastating property damage and loss of life. Kentucky, United States, is particularly prone to disasters, where five Kentucky counties are among the top 10 counties in the country with the greatest number of disaster declarations since 1990. Despite the frequency of disasters, relatively little research into their climatological nature in Kentucky has been conducted. Using data collected from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the purpose of this research was to identify the socioeconomic impacts, spatial extent, and frequency of disaster declarations in Kentucky from 1950 to 2024. Results indicate that severe thunderstorms and floods make up the largest percentage of Kentucky disasters declarations at 38% and 29%, respectively. Eastern Kentucky experienced the highest frequency of disaster declarations across the study period. Finally, analysis revealed a significant increase in the frequency of disaster declarations in Kentucky with time, where there was a quadrupling in the average annual frequency of disaster declarations between the periods 1950–1974 and 2000–2024. Results provide a comprehensive view of Kentucky disaster declarations that may inform future research into their forcing mechanisms and mitigation and resiliency efforts.