KEMA Hall of Fame: Emory Kidd

By Allyson Dix

Managing Editor

Barren County Progress

 

Emory Kidd, former Emergency Management Director of Metcalfe County, has dedicated most of his life to public safety. On September 5, Kidd was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Kentucky Emergency Management Association at a ceremony in Louisville at the Crown Plaza Hotel during the annual Emergency Services Conference.

Robert (Bob) Palmer, EM Director of Simpson County, accepted the Hall of Fame award on behalf of Kidd.

“Emory has dedicated many years to the Emergency Management profession,” Palmer said, highlighting how the details in Kidd’s nomination for the award were fitting.

“Emory has been a great leader, mentor, and friend to many of us over our careers as emergency managers,” Palmer said. “We are grateful to the executive board for bestowing this honor upon him.”

Kidd’s nomination details his numerous highlights while serving with emergency management including advancing multiple projects during his tenure with Metcalfe County that resulted in millions of dollars in recovery and mitigation funds for the county.

During Kidd’s 17 years as the county’s emergency management director, he was responsible for negotiating grants to construct 14 tornado shelters in various areas of Metcalfe County. He led efforts to have the state’s first rescue house designated for families who had been victims of house fires.  He was also responsible for 15 federally declared disasters with approximately $8,000,000 in recovered funds.

He has served often to engage in requests for multiple deployments across the state for search-and-rescue operations, damage assessments, and Emergency Operation Center staffing, because of his leadership and attention to detail capabilities.

Kidd has dedicated an unwavering commitment to his community, Region 3, and the Commonwealth in the many years he has served. His service also includes serving as the KEMA Regional Vice President for Regions 3 and 4, President of BREMA since its inception, and he was awarded Mitigation Manager of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Mitigation Managers.

“I was proud to see Emory’s induction into the Hall of Fame,” Kentucky Emergency Management Area 3 Manager Gary Fancher shared with Jobe Publishing. “My local directors in Area 3 nominated Emory for not only working to bring millions of grant dollars into his county, but also assisting many other local EM Directors with bringing much-needed grant dollars into Area 3 counties as he continues to work with them on grants. He has also received state and national recognition for some of the mitigation programs he designed that have since been implemented in other areas.”

This award marks all awards available for someone in Kidd’s position in the area of emergency management and while it was an unexpected one, he said the recognition has been an amazing honor.

“I had never even dreamed of such an honor,” Kidd told Jobe Publishing, Inc. “At one time, Metcalfe County had an emergency management program other counties wanted. It was an honor to be inducted into KEMA’s Hall of Fame that I had never even considered receiving. I was just amazed.”