By Demi Conteh
For much of this past century, most of Kentucky's power has come from the work of underground coal miners in southeastern Kentucky. However, the environment required for this coal mining was not ideal for the local residents, as it left them with simple, unprotected homes, dilapidated infrastructure, and a region that had lost many of its natural protections. And even when the coal business eventually moved on from Kentucky, the people were exposed after all the years of living in the mining landscape. Last week's torrential downpour turned creeks into roaring rivers, broke existing flood records, killed at least 37 people, and destroyed many of these homes previously affected by the mining environment.
In the wake of last week's terrible storms that spread across five counties, displacing hundreds of citizens, survivors have chosen to wait it out rather than seeking assistance at the shelters' local officials' station. Zack Hall, a flood survivor and the tourism director for Knott County, said, "It's also unfortunate because people have been coming from out of the area to act like vultures and pillage." Two counties have now implemented strict curfews to stop the looting. This Tuesday, the county sheriff in Breathitt County posted on Facebook that the Kentucky National Guard is now patrolling the damaged area.
As the flood's survivors began to recover and clean up the flooding damage, those in eastern Kentucky also suffer from the sweltering heat. Luckily, country officials opened cooling facilities on Tuesday due to the risk of heat-related ailments and some families' prolonged lack of power. In Knott County, Kirsten Gomez and her family is going through the flooding recovery process. Gomez, her husband, and her cousin are gutting a doublewide trailer damaged by flooding. They are removing the drywall, flooring, and cabinets molded by the Troublesome Creek floodwaters that overwhelmed their home on Thursday.
"When you have a century of billions of dollars and resources leaving, very little of it staying to create the infrastructure necessary for people to live lives, and it's been neglected for as long as it has been," says Wes Addington, an attorney with the Appalachian Citizens Law Center, whose office is now ruined due to the flood. "When that's combined with a really insane flood, it's a catastrophe."
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