Kentucky Mayor to Receive Nationwide Disaster Leadership Award

CLARKSVILLE, Md. - Dec. 19, 2023 - PRLog -- The mayor of a small Kentucky town devastated by a deadly tornado in 2021 and an historic flood in 2023 is receiving nationwide recognition for her leadership during the two crises.

Mayfield Kentucky Mayor Kathy O'Nan will be the second recipient of the Tommy Longo Disaster Leadership Award, a new nationwide award to honor city and county officials who lead their communities well through a major disaster.

The award was created by LeadersLink, a nonprofit that harnesses and shares elected officials' disaster lessons learned to help other communities better prevent, prepare for and recover from major crises.

Nominations for the award came from around the country, with nominees leading recoveries from wildfires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes.

The three-judge panel said Mayor O'Nan was chosen because she'd done an extraordinary job leading Mayfield through back-to-back disasters - a massive EF4 tornado in December 2021 that killed 24 and damaged or destroyed more than 1300 homes and virtually every business in town and a 1000-year flood in July 2023 after nearly a foot of rain fell in just 24 hours.

"Mayor O'Nan's collaborative and determined approach to Mayfield's dual disaster recoveries has won allies and helped draw much-needed funds to the small town," they wrote.

"While full recovery is still years away, as is not unusual in large disasters, the community is so much better for the mayor's optimistic leadership."

The award is named after the late mayor of Waveland, Mississippi, John "Tommy" Longo.  He led the city's successful recovery from Hurricane Katrina and volunteered to serve as one of LeadersLink's first mentors, sharing what he had learned with other mayors whose towns had been damaged by hurricanes.

LeadersLink Founder and Executive Director Kathleen Koch will present the award March 7 at the Kentucky League of Cities' Women in City Government Summit in Lexington.

"As disasters become more frequent and severe, leaders like Mayor O'Nan are a brain trust for those who follow," said Koch.  "Sharing what disaster veterans like her have learned can help speed the recoveries of other communities struggling after major disasters."

When:  March 7, 2024

Where:  KLC Women in City Government Summit

Embassy Suites

1801 Newtown Pike

Lexington, KY

https://leaderslink.org

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