Many eastern Kentuckians who lost their homes in last month’s flooding are in a holding pattern as they work to find a place to stay permanently.
In Knott County, Melissa Risner spent Monday morning meeting with representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In the afternoon she went from donation site to donation site trying to find pots and pans and laundry detergent.
“I done laundry last night using dish washing liquid, but it worked,” said Risner.
Risner said laundry facilities were just delivered to the Mine Made Adventure Park and Campground, better known as the Knott County Trail. For the last week she and her husband have been staying in an RV provided by the Eastern Kentucky Sheltering Program. They’ve been told they can stay there for a total of 60 days, and maybe a month more after that. One thing is certain, she can’t return to her home.
“Everybody that’s come out and looked at it has said that it was just a total loss and there was no point to try cleaning it out when it’s got to be torn down anyway. But then here on the flip side, FEMA’s, ya know, denying everything and telling me to appeal and that gets back to the 60 to 90 days. What am I gonna do? I’m running out of time,” said Risner.
Brenda Cesefske is from Breathitt County, but she’s also staying at the travel trailers at the Knott County Trail. She said she’s been working with FEMA, too.
“I had a total loss. They sent me a check for $358 to do repairs and I can’t do repairs because you can’t repair a mobile home. But I did appeal it. They said to appeal, appeal. And so that’s what I’ve done and hopefully something will come out of that,” said Cesefske.
Vickie Harvey is the Disaster Recovery Center Manager at the Knott County Sportsplex. She said appeals are not as complicated as they seem, oftentimes people just need to get estimates and write an appeal letter.
“And we would submit that to our processing center where their situation could be reconsidered, and possibly they would get more and maybe they would not. I can’t say, you know? But over the years I’ve seen a lot of people who were successful with their appeal,” said Harvey.
As of Monday, there are people staying in 22 of the 30 travel trailers at the Knott County Trail and in 19 RVs at Carr Creek State Park while they appeal, make repairs, and look for permanent housing.
Jeff Combs is with Knott County Emergency Management. He said he can’t recommend that people build back where they were.
“They’re saying this is like a thousand-year flood, but I really wouldn’t advise anybody to build back anywhere close to the flood zone. If I built back, I’d try to get back on higher ground or something like that cause you never can tell. It could just happen anytime,” said Combs.
Combs added that he’s aware of some people who, after this, aren’t even considering repairing or rebuilding.
“They’re just talking about moving away, you know? Going to different states and finding a place there. I hate to see everybody go but some people will and some people will stay and they’ll rebuild. A lot of them will, they’ll rebuild. They’re pretty tough,” said Combs.
Ted Sloan is one of those who is toughing it out. He is living in a wood shop on his property while officials decide if his home can be repaired. He said the wood shop now has electricity with an air conditioner and cots to sleep on.
“It’s better than being on the ground, I’ll say that. It’s better than being on the ground. It’s dry over our heads, you know?” said Sloan.
Like so many others, Sloan was at the Sportsplex appealing his FEMA denial. On this third trip, Sloan said he was there to prove ownership of the home he’s lived in since the day he was born.
Anyone filing an appeal for FEMA aid in the flooded area should have the following information: the applicant’s full name, applicant’s FEMA application number and disaster number, address of the applicant’s pre-disaster primary residence, applicant’s current phone number and address as well as supporting documents from a contractor to support the claim.
**EDITOR'S NOTE**
This story has been updated with new information:
Some residents in the temporary housing were under the impression there was 60-90 day limit to their stay.
Governor Beshear has stated there is not a 60 or a 90 day occupancy limit for people staying in the travel trailers. He clarified this in his Team Kentucky Update on 08/25/22. That can be found in the link below:
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