Flood Information and Flood Relief

These selected links serve to introduce the flood and the ongoing recovery, but they by no means attempt to account for the wide scope of coverage, the experience of everyone who has been affected by the flood, or of all those who have and continue to offer support.   

About the Flood

Coverage of the flood by The Daily Yonder, including a moving 30-minute documentary East Kentucky Flood about people’s experience in Letcher County.

Here are three articles by Berea Students about the flood: the first explains the scope and effects of the flood; the second shares a student’s personal experience in Clay County; and the third reflects on what the floods have revealed about the region’s economic bones and their healing.

Silas House’s first response, “Climate Change Makes Appalachian Life Even Harder. So Why Do We Stay?” Washington Post 5 August 2022.

Deeper Learning

RISE, Eastern Kentucky: an excellent six-part podcast on the Flood by Eastern Standard, the weekly WEKU current affairs magazine program.  It explores what contributed to the disaster, how communities are responding and what leadership, programs and resources will be needed to address the challenges and embrace the opportunities ahead. 

“The Road to Flood Disaster Recovery” and “Housing Damage from the 2022 Kentucky Flood,” by Rebecca Shelton (Appalachian Citizen’s Law Center) and Eric Dixon (The Ohio Valley River Institute), 21 Feb 2023. 

Continuing Recovery Work

“Kentucky Floodwaters Receded Six Months Ago. For Many, the Crisis Goes On,” by Brady Dennis, Washington Post 22 March 2023.

Long-Term Recovery Groups in effected Kentucky Counties.  A long-term recovery group (LTRG) is a cooperative body that is made up of representatives from faith-based, non-profit, government, business and other organizations working within a community to assist individuals and families as they recover from disaster. 

The Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky’s Appalachian Crisis Aid Fund: This fund supports all kinds of people in many kinds of ways in almost every nook and holler in the region.  The Foundation of Appalachian Kentucky is based out of Hazard, Kentucky, smack dab in the middle of the disaster.

Bereans Lend a Helping Hand