LEXINGTON, Ky. — Richmond, Kentucky is among the cities recovering from leftover damage from one of the first severe storms of the summer.
As most people around the country continue to kick off the start of summer at their local parks, people like Josh Cole, grounds and maintenance director of parks in Richmond, are cleaning up leftover debris from a severe storm that damaged homes, businesses and public spaces around the city.
Several of the areas still working to get back to their family-filled days are parks like Lake Reba, Gibson Bay, Camp Catalpa, and a handful of others throughout the city.
Lake Reba Park sits near an aquatic center, fitness center, and sports fields, and offers several walking trails and a playground.
Staff members say summer brings in more families looking to take advantage of activities outdoors.
“Free swims, we have also done a nature day and a fishing derby and so we kind of have a couple of events going on in the summer,” Elizabeth Foster, program coordinator for the parks said.
However, things can get complicated if severe weather is in the area.
Cole, a long-time member of the Richmond parks and recreation team, says that four different baseball and softball fields received major damage from the recent storms, and one dugout that is still standing lost its roof.
“I’ve been here 15 years, and this is probably the third time this has happened in some different fields,” he explained. “We have had different fields do this. We have had a couple of back dugouts do this before, some fences do this before.”
With this round of severe storms, Camp Catalpa was hit the hardest.
Park officials say that right now, they are warning visitors that certain areas like Camp Catalpa are off limits at this time.
“It’s quite a busy park. It’s just as busy as Lake Reba minus the sports side of things, but with the amount of tree’s down, crossing all the trails, and with power lines down it’s just completely unsafe for the public so we are just keeping it completely off limits,” Cole said.
One trail that is favored by locals for its natural shade and disc golf course currently has dozens of large trees down — some starting at their roots. Officials say it may take weeks to correct.
“We are hoping in the next couple of weeks Camp Catalpa really is dependent on getting someone in to fix it and so it just depends on how quickly we can get somebody in,” Foster explained.
Park leaders say they have been able to locate and tend to the majority of the damage over the last three days since the storms moved through.