(Photo by Jeanne Marie Hibberd)

This week's episode of RISE, the third in this six-part documentary series, investigates an increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as the moisture-heavy storm system that stalled above 13 eastern Kentucky counties on the night of July 27, 2022 and intensified well into the morning of the 28th. The resulting flash flood claimed 44 lives and destroyed or severely damaged thousands of homes - homes located outside of officially mapped floodplains. The episode explores the question: are these storms harbingers of climate change?