Last week, impoverished communities in eastern Kentucky were destroyed by a disastrous flash flood that pulled homes from their foundations, washed out bridges, and left at least 26 people dead and many more missing.
The counties on the eastern edge of the state received the worst of the floods’ destruction. 14 people died in Knott County, and more than 1,400 people were rescued by boats and helicopters. Thousands more still remain without electricity.
“The pure catastrophic loss is hard to put into words. I’ve just never seen anything like this in my career or even my life,” said Dan Mosley, the judge-executive for Harlan County.
Those who do make it to shelters still have innumerable hardships to deal with. Many arrive covered in mud but are offered only baby wipes. There is currently no running water in the majority of eastern Kentucky.
“I wish I could tell you why areas where people may not have much continue to get hit and lose everything,” said Governor Andy Beshear. “I can’t give you the why, but I know what we do in response to it. And the answer is everything we can.”
This is the latest in a long line of lethal natural disasters to hit Kentucky, including a massive ice storm last year that cut off power to 150,000 people, a flash flood last July that destroyed numerous homes, and lethal tornadoes last December that killed 80 and left everyone in a 200-mile radius without a home.
“We had another flood, a record flood, not 12 months ago, and a lot of families had just started getting their lives back on track,” said Hargis Epperson, the county coroner. “Now it’s happened all over again, worse this time. Everybody’s lost everything, twice.”
The rural communities that have been hardest hit by these natural disasters are already impoverished, due to the decline of the coal industry and the loss of manufacturing jobs.
The land in eastern Kentucky has been stripped of its trees and mountains for coal and lumber, making devastating flash floods more likely, and more lethal.
“Let’s be aware that this a new normal of incredibly catastrophic events, which are going to hit our most vulnerable communities,” said Alex Gibson, the executive director of Appalshop, an arts and education center in Whitesburg.
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/us/kentucky-flooding-natural-disasters.html
The counties on the eastern edge of the state received the worst of the floods’ destruction. 14 people died in Knott County, and more than 1,400 people were rescued by boats and helicopters. Thousands more still remain without electricity.
“The pure catastrophic loss is hard to put into words. I’ve just never seen anything like this in my career or even my life,” said Dan Mosley, the judge-executive for Harlan County.
Those who do make it to shelters still have innumerable hardships to deal with. Many arrive covered in mud but are offered only baby wipes. There is currently no running water in the majority of eastern Kentucky.
“I wish I could tell you why areas where people may not have much continue to get hit and lose everything,” said Governor Andy Beshear. “I can’t give you the why, but I know what we do in response to it. And the answer is everything we can.”
This is the latest in a long line of lethal natural disasters to hit Kentucky, including a massive ice storm last year that cut off power to 150,000 people, a flash flood last July that destroyed numerous homes, and lethal tornadoes last December that killed 80 and left everyone in a 200-mile radius without a home.
“We had another flood, a record flood, not 12 months ago, and a lot of families had just started getting their lives back on track,” said Hargis Epperson, the county coroner. “Now it’s happened all over again, worse this time. Everybody’s lost everything, twice.”
The rural communities that have been hardest hit by these natural disasters are already impoverished, due to the decline of the coal industry and the loss of manufacturing jobs.
The land in eastern Kentucky has been stripped of its trees and mountains for coal and lumber, making devastating flash floods more likely, and more lethal.
“Let’s be aware that this a new normal of incredibly catastrophic events, which are going to hit our most vulnerable communities,” said Alex Gibson, the executive director of Appalshop, an arts and education center in Whitesburg.
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/us/kentucky-flooding-natural-disasters.html
