Eastern Kentucky floods haunt survivors trying to move forward one year later

HAZARD, Kentucky – On a hot July day, Carolyn Short can be found enjoying the view from her new front porch with a breeze blowing her wind chimes. Despite the heat, she enjoys the fresh air. 

One year ago on July 27, 2022, Short's view was dangerously different as she climbed into her attic as a last effort to survive the deadly flash flooding emergency that tore through her community in Perry County, destroying thousands of homes.

Over four days, the National Weather Service issued multiple Flash Flooding Emergencies across Eastern Kentucky. The flooding came overnight when many were asleep. 

"It was like one minute there was a little bit of water the next minute it’s up to your waist, and you can’t get out the door," Short recalls. "We couldn’t move, we tried. We did try to escape we couldn’t." 

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When she felt like there was nowhere else to go Short went up into the attic.

"We waited, and we waited, and we waited, and every moment seemed like it was going to be the last," she said.

When the rain was over, 16 inches had fallen, turning peaceful creeks into raging rivers, sending water so fast and intense it swept homes off foundations and carried away cars. More than 40 people died in the flooding, and thousands of homes were destroyed, leaving people like Short starting from scratch. 

As the water receded, Short said reality set in. Bridges were gone, cars tossed around like toys and family photos were scattered among muddy debris. 

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Tonya Smith said the flooding still feels like a bad dream.

"It’s just hard to believe that water could do something that bad," Smith said. 

Smith's home in Hazard was carried away, down a hill and smashed into a tree. Thankfully, Smith and her son got out in time, but they still lost everything.

"I’m glad that we were awake and keeping an eye on it and able to get out in time," she said. "Because if not, there would’ve been no way we would’ve made it the way the water was."

In a few months, similar to Short, Smith and her son will have a new home. 

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The Housing Development Alliance is helping survivors get a glimpse of their new normal. The nonprofit organization is building homes for those who lost theirs to the floods. In the last year, the organization has constructed and sold 10, working with survivors to combine all available funds from federal, state, and local grants along with donations. 

"A lot of folks are still living in trailers, there’s still living with family members, and they’ll tell you all they want to do is go home," said Mindy Miller with the Housing Development Alliance. "They want to go home, and that’s what the Housing Development Alliance is here to do." 

Homes are being rebuilt in safer areas on higher ground.

The flooding destroyed an area that was already struggling socioeconomically. Much of Hazard, Kentucky, still looks like the storm happened yesterday. 

"When a disaster like this hits, it’s hitting people that have the least resources, who are going to be least able to recover from it," Miller said.

Short said on the first night in her new home, she slept soundly for the first time in nearly a year.

"I slept like a baby the first week I was here," she said. "It was like I had my REM sleep back; I was resting again."