Nine months ago, thousands of residents in southeastern Kentucky had no idea what kind of damage mother nature would bring. Historical flash flooding caused heartache and destruction in several counties. One of the harder-hit communities was Hindman in Knott County.
Hindman and Knott County suffered significantly due to last July’s flooding. Well over a dozen residents, including four children died in what’s been labeled a hundred-year flood.
Blanch Taylor is the site base coordinator for flood distribution with the Hindman Methodist Church. She said the community is working hard to support one another. In addition to Kentucky, Taylor said the Appalachian community has seen work teams from Nebraska, Ohio, Virginia, and South Carolina.
“We had one group of 12 come in the week of Thanksgiving and work the whole week of Thanksgiving and they were so touched by this community, they’re coming back in June and bringing 50 workers,” said Taylor.
Groups from New York and Pennsylvania are also scheduled to come in June. Crews have been working on roof, flooring, insulation, ramps, and porch projects.
Hindman residents, for a while, had to go 25 miles to pick up their mail in Hazard when the local post office was damaged. But progress is being made in many areas. Blanch Taylor noted new housing is on the horizon.
“There has been more hope now that we’re getting more homes built. Just last week, Knott County was able to obtain property by the Knott County Sportsplex and they’ll be building 57 homes out there,” said Taylor.
The long-term recovery group case manager chair is Heather Smith. She said her church got involved early on in recovery, welcoming teams from Tennessee. Smith says she’s a case manager in her day job, so it was a good fit for her. And again, progress is coming along.
“We’ve got quite a few people back in their homes. We’ve probably got, just with the long term, probably got 60 to 70 back in the homes already. We’ve actually been working with some other homes, getting them started.”
Asked how many Knott County lost their homes in the flood, Smith said she didn’t have that figure off-hand. The Knott County native says many people are still struggling and stressed, particularly when it rains. Smith says for some teenagers, including friends of her 15-year-old son, it’s been difficult,” said Smith.
“Cause some of the kids saw what really went on. I know some of his friends were flooded, so they’ve had a hard time dealing with getting back on their feet and some’s still had to live in campers. So, that’s been a problem. They don’t have a home,” said Smith.
The Jacobs in Pippa Passes in Knott County didn’t lose their home but almost lost something more valuable. One or possibly two lives.
“I think the most I remember is I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
85-year-old Daniel Jacobs lives along Highway 899 with his wife Ruby. They’ve been married 64 years and went through a traumatic experience in the early morning hours of July 29th.
Ruby was in a weakened state of health. Daniel said the water was coming up some three feet over the retaining wall.
Trying to get to the car, Ruby got caught up in raging water. Both feel there was divine intervention with Daniel’s one arm around his wife and the other miraculously steered to a calm area to grab on. Ruby said she was assured the Lord would pull them through.
“I wasn’t a bit afraid. I never said anything about being afraid. Did I? I wasn’t afraid at all. I just knew that if he said that if he said we were gonna get out, at some point, he was gonna get us out and that’s what happened……I said after it was all over with, I said, you know he walked on the water..and he pulled us out of the water,” said Ruth and Daniel Jacobs.
Still, at one point while fighting the rapid waters, Daniel said Ruby told him to let her go. His response was, if you go, I go. Jacobs says it was a storm they will never forget. They both say their three daughters and son worked hard to clean and salvage items and transport drinking water to the area.
Jacobs said there is a feeling of renewal seen in his family and the broader community.
“I have a cousin that lost his home, his sister lost her home, and their mother’s home was destroyed. But, they’re fighting back. They’re back much better,” said Daniel Jacobs.
And that is a theme some nine months after the record-breaking flooding that hit a large section of Kentucky. Optimism with a realization it won’t happen overnight like the flooding that rolled through the region.
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