Graves County

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Following historic rainfall and flooding earlier this summer, farmers in Graves County, Kentucky sustained field damage and crop loss. That was 18 months after a tornado outbreak that killed dozens of residents -- and destroyed the grain elevators many farmers relied on to store their crops. Some in the county say that farmers with smaller operations had a harder time coping with these extreme weather events, mirroring a global pattern where smallholder farmers find it more difficult to distribute their risk and more challenging to recover when disaster strikes. Many have noticed changes in weather patterns over the years, but most also see it as a part of farming and don't have major plans to adapt their practices.

The Graves County Property Valuation Administrator is being indicted on a charge of abuse of public trust for more than $10,000 dollars.

The Mayfield-Graves County Long-Term Recovery Group is hoping to help fill the rental housing need created in the community in the wake of last December’s tornado outbreak.

Nine months after a violent December tornado severely damaged the historic Graves County courthouse in Mayfield, the demolition of the red brick building is underway, and the action drew a crowd on Friday.

Almost nine months after the December tornado outbreak, 11 Mayfield families displaced by the natural disaster received symbolic pieces of mail with the addresses of their temporary tiny homes serving as transitional housing.

Groups like the United Way of Kentucky are continuing to support the progress communities are making as recovery efforts continue nearly nine months after the December tornado outbreak.

A Graves County resident self-published her first children’s book earlier this month.

A new Graves County nonprofit focused on housing victims of the December outbreak welcomed its first family over the weekend.

Mayfield residents gathered in the local Chamber of Commerce Friday to discuss the future of the Graves County community as it continues to recover more than eight months after the December tornado outbreak.

Documents from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration indicate that Mayfield Consumer Products violated standards impacting the events at the Graves County candle factory the night of the December tornado outbreak.