Recovery still underway six months after historic EKY flooding

BREATHITT COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - This week marks six months since the historic flooding in eastern Kentucky that took the lives of 44 Kentuckians and destroyed hundreds of homes.

Rebuilding will take years, but the region has received lots of help along the way. Donors from across the world raised more than $13 million for recovery.

In Breathitt County, Wayne Getson is working to rebuild.

“I’m trying to build me a house back,” Getson said. “I gotta have somewhere to live, and this is it.”

Getson has lived in Jackson his whole life. His trailer was destroyed by the floods, and when he heard what it would cost to buy a new one...

“I said, ‘well, I believe I could build a house for that,’ so I let in on it, and that’s what I’m doing,” said Getson.

In the meantime, he’s living in a trailer provided by FEMA. Getson says FEMA has helped him with some supplies for the rebuild too, along with members of the community.

Before the floods, his neighborhood was full of trailers.

“Pretty much all the way around. Store there and store there. The rest was all trailers. And now nothing. Me. I’m it,” said Getson. “They all left; I stayed.”

When asked why he stayed, Getson said, “I ain’t got nowhere else to go. This is it, you know?”

Thursday, Governor Beshear announced that the total approved from FEMA is now more than $96.9 million. That’s a $1.4 million increase since last week.

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