A new blow in place that knows hardship
Death toll from natural disaster rises to 26 and is expected to climb
JACKSON, Ky. — Evelyn Smith lost everything in the deadly floods that devastated eastern Kentucky, saving only her grandson’s muddy tricycle. But she’s not planning to leave the mountains that have been her home for 50 years.
Like many families in this dense, forested region of hills, deep valleys and meandering streams, Smith’s roots run deep. Her family has lived in Knott County for five generations. They’ve built connections with people that have sustained them, even as an area long mired in poverty has hemorrhaged more jobs with the collapse of the coal industry.
After fast-rising floodwaters from nearby Troublesome Creek swamped her rental trailer, Smith moved in with her mother. At age 50, she is disabled, suffering from a chronic breathing disorder, and knows she won’t be going back to where she lived; her landlord told her he won’t put trailers back in the same spot. Smith, who didn’t have insurance, doesn’t know what her next move will be.
“I’ve cried until I really can’t cry no more,” she said. “I’m just in shock. I don’t really know what to do now.”
The devastation is expected to mount in the state. Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday that the death toll had risen to 26 and was expected to rise.
“There is widespread damage with many families displaced and more rain expected throughout the next day,” Beshear said via Twitter.
For many people who lost their homes, connections with family and neighbors will only grow in importance in the aftermath of the floods, which wiped out homes and businesses and engulfed small towns. Still, in a part of the state that includes seven of the 100 poorest counties in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, they may not be enough for people already living on the margins.
“People who are poor in east Kentucky are really some of the most disadvantaged people in our entire country,” said Evan Smith, an attorney with the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund, which provides free legal services for low-income and vulnerable people. “And for those who have now lost vehicles, homes, loved ones, it’s hard for me to see how they bounce back from this.”