Western Kentucky flood victims receive help cleaning out homes

HENDERSON COUNTY, Ky. (WEHT) — Recovery efforts continue in western Kentucky after April’s historical flooding.

Henderson County Emergency Management Agency officials said it is a team effort, and some volunteers are crossing state lines to help.

“When you have a traumatic event of this nature, there is a lot of trauma that goes along with it. And people start asking questions that they don’t normally ask. So it is like a prime time to speak into their lives and make a difference in their overall outlook in life,” Kenneth Beachy, a disaster response coordinator with Christian Aid Ministries, said.

Christian Aid Ministries’ disaster relief team helps residents in Kentucky and Tennessee clean up after natural disasters and has dozens of volunteers. It temporarily set up shop in Sebree to help gut houses in areas hit hard by last month’s flooding.

“The worst of the jobs is what we call gutting the crawlspace,” Beachy said.

Beachy said it takes about a day to gut a house, sometimes two days depending on the damage. He said a lot of the homes had several inches of water inside before the water receded. They let us inside one in Reed to get a closer look.

Beachy said volunteers rip out drywall, flooring, and insulation.

“…getting everything down to a single layer of wood until it can dry out,” Beachy said.

Beachy said they have gutted 10 homes in Henderson County and hope to do more.

“We get into an area and try to be a blessing. But the reality is that we often end up being more blessed by it… than the blessing that we are giving,” Beachy said.

“Just because we cannot see the water anymore, it does not look like there is damage. There are still families and neighbors that are struggling and that need help. So we need to get that information of who needs help to the volunteer teams,” said Katy Moyer with Fuller Center Disaster Re-Builders.

Moyer said recovery will be a long process, and help is available in a variety of ways. One way is by contacting United Way of Henderson County at (270)-826-2107. Moyer said calling can help connect you with organizations for your needs.

Christian Aid Ministries can be reached by calling its temporary office in Sebree at (330)-473-5793.

Henderson EMA also posts recovery updates and resources on its Facebook page, which can be found here.