Landrieu told the SOAR Summit audience on Thursday that there's a deep reservoir of strength in the mountains of East Kentucky, saying there's just something about the mountains that stirs the soul. He said the people of the mountains know hardships too, like natural disasters that have recently hit hard in communities of East Kentucky, like historic and deadly flooding and the F-4 tornado that barreled through London in May. For an area that already has its economic challenges from the demise of the coal industry, finding help needed to recover from the additional blows dealt by mother nature has become a major concern.
During an interview with WUKY after his speech, Landrieu said storm victims need to speak up and be relentless in their pursuit of help with the federal government.
"The first thing they need to do is is is to be present, and, you've gotta have a a a good emergency response system in Washington, DC with reservoir of money to not only help communities become resilient before storms hit, but also to respond quickly when they do, and then finally help you rebuild as well. And so what worked what did not work right after Katrina was that the federal government at the time wasn't doing that."
Landrieu said hardships do not have to define East Kentucky. Why it can define the area is how its people respond with resiliency and advocacy to the federal and state government.
Landrieu was speaking from experience as he helped make New Orleans recovery from Hurricane Katrina one of the nation's greatest comeback stories. He said he was confident the same can happen in Eastern Kentucky.
"But every place, literally every place in the world has a distinct and unique set of people, cultures, faiths, traditions, and you can find a way to create something out of nothing. Every every community can. Now sometimes, you know, industries ebb and flow. You get kicked in the pants when coal, you know, took a hit. Louisiana got kicked in the pants when oil and gas took a hit. We had to recreate ourselves. We did it as a tourist destination, as a cultural mecca. We we relied on art, music, historic preservation. There is something of great value here. Eastern Kentucky is gorgeous. You have great natural resources. You have really good schools. You got good people, but you just got a kick in the pants, and the economy changes on you. So you gotta really think to yourself, what other things do we have, you know, that can propel us forward? You have to be creative, and you have to be open to new possibilities. And it's just gonna it is gonna take a while to respond to the challenges that the coal industry has had, but I would not I don't think Kentucky's even close to seeing its best days. I think you got plenty, plenty, plenty more coming your way."
Kentucky cabinet for economic development secretary Jeff Noel also spoke at the SOAR summit on Thursday.
Kentucky state senate president Robert Stivers spoke on Thursday evening. Panel discussions on AI in Appalachia and nuclear opportunities in Eastern Kentucky were held later in the day. Kentucky governor Andy Beshear and US congressman Harold Rogers are scheduled to speak on Friday as the twenty twenty five Shaving Our Appalachian Region Summit concludes.