Residents of Laurel County are still dealing with a large clean up effort one week after a tornado devastated the towns of London and Somerset.
Neighborhoods in London are busy with residents searching through their homes, piling up debris and recovering their personal belongings.
They’re joined by volunteer crews assisting with the cleanup process, bulldozing through the remains and taking chainsaws to fallen trees.
One volunteer found an old family photo that belonged to James Poindexter, a longtime resident of his neighborhood.
“I’ve seen just about all of them just trying to just get all their stuff, belongings and stuff that's scattered through the neighborhood,” Poindexter said. “He gave me this picture of my daughter. I mean, I'd never seen it again, he wouldn't have gave it to me.”
Poindexter’s home sustained some damage, but he has family members nearby whose homes were completely destroyed. He says he’s been helping volunteer teams with the recovery effort since Friday.
“They’re asking me where things are, septic tanks and where people live, and stuff like that. And what can they help with? What can they do and what can't you do?” he said.
David Lopp was among those whose home was in the tornado’s path, but luckily stayed mostly intact. He says the work to get his home restored has been a fast turnaround.
“They have been absolutely fantastic with the work they've done and getting things done. I mean, they did most of this roof and most of the cleanup all in one day,” Lopp said.
He and his wife are helping Samaritan’s Purse teams clean up the neighborhood.
“Right after it occurred, once I knew my family was safe, I took off right outside and started going door to door, making sure everybody, my neighbor, Tanya, made sure she was okay, and they were all okay,” he said.
Their neighborhood is behind the London-Corbin airport, which has been repurposed as a donation hub for victims.
London officials, volunteers and responders have been at the airport since Friday, and it’s seen a constant donation of food, water, clothes and other essentials.
Paige Cornett is one of the volunteers helping organize traffic at the airport.
“Everybody's just really all hands on deck. We've been nonstop since day one, and you know, we'll be nonstop until we're not needed anymore,” Cornett said.
The airport is also contending with its own cleanup situation. Hangars and medical buildings across the complex were demolished and need to be rebuilt.
Matthew Singer is the airport’s manager. He says rebuilding is essential to the community.
“It's not about the airport. It's about, how can the airport support these people, you know, support the area. We got the jobs,” Singer said. “You got the air ambulances. They go all over the place, and two of them are out of commission right now.”
Singer says the state Transportation Cabinet brought crews to clean debris from the airport’s runway within a day of Friday’s storm.
“I’m thinking it'll be tomorrow, or, you know, Sunday, Monday, before we see anybody,” he said. “I got a call probably about 8:30 and by 10:00, I had dump trucks and snow plows, trailers, brushes, everything.”
Brandon Brott is an air medic who works out of the airport. He’s helping run a clinic for victims with cuts or other injuries. He says they’re continuing work in the meantime.
“We do have eight sister bases around us that are picking up our call volume here, so there's not any kind of delay or lack of helicopter support around the area,” Brott said.
The state is currently working to get a federal disaster declaration for individual assistance. Gov. Andy Beshear says he’s spoken to FEMA and Homeland Security.
The Laurel County Emergency Operation Center can be called at 606-862-7904 for those interested in volunteering.
