Residents Near Ky. Dam Getting Weather Radios

By The Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Residents living in the potential flood path of Wolf Creek Dam in southeastern Kentucky are eligible for free weather radios, the state’s homeland security office announced Monday.

Residents and businesses living within the counties that could be flooded if Lake Cumberland’s Wolf Creek Dam failed may start getting free weather radios Saturday. The eligible counties include Clinton, Cumberland, Monroe and Russell.

“It is essential that we take care of every Kentuckian living below the Wolf Creek Dam, and weather radios are an important resource for emergency response officials to reach out to the public during an emergency,” Gov. Ernie Fletcher said in a statement.

The Wolf Creek Dam, in Russell County, confines Lake Cumberland, which is the largest manmade lake east of the Mississippi River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has embarked on a seven-year, $309 million repair project to control seeping under the dam.

Officials are concerned that a failure at the dam would cause flooding in Kentucky and Tennessee cities along the Cumberland River.

The state spent about $47,000 on 1,800 Midland NOAA weather radios, said Jason Keller, a spokesman for the Kentucky homeland security office. State officials bought the radios from Houston- based Globe Electric, Keller said.

Weather radios broadcast forecasts and warnings from the National Weather Service.

The state will mail business owners and residents cards with additional information.

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