The deadly flooding that hit the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky is making some stalwart residents who have hung on through disappearing jobs and the opioid crisis consider leaving their small towns.
Paul Francis describes how flood waters damaged his property in Garrett, Ky., on Saturday, July 30, 2022. Francis was born in the home 73 years ago but his wife wants to leave the area because of the flooding. The tiny town of Garrett was completely under water when floodwaters struck eastern Kentucky last week. – This tiny sliver of a town off a state highway in eastern Kentucky has been home to Brenda Francis and her husband, Paul, for decades.
But many stayed, held by ties to their communities, families and their history here. The flooding that hit the area last week is making even some of those stalwarts reconsider, especially in and around Garrett, a community of about 1,300 people that was founded by a coal company in the early 1900s. Kingsolver said there is little available rental or motel space in those rural areas, but flooding victims often get help and shelter from relatives and neighbors nearby.
“I have thought about it, but here’s the thing: It took everything that me and my husband could do to buy a house,” she said, weeping. “It’s hard to let go of something that you worked so hard for.”So she and her son will instead see what can be salvaged in her home and hope the foundation remains solid.
“She’s a survivor. I don’t know of any other way to put it,” said Clark, who attended Garrett High School and then moved away to Lexington, where he worked in television production and operations. “I have no doubt she will stay here until she’s done.”
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