Residents in Kentucky or beginning to clean up the damage and debris
from the flash flood that submerged more than a dozen counties in
the eastern part of the state and parts of Appalachia. John Yang
has an update on the relief and recovery efforts.
Judy more than 400. National Guard troops are deployed across the
region to help residents, many of whom are displaced, their homes
ruined and they're facing enormous challenges. And today those challenges
include triple digit heat and oppressive humidity. Relief groups
are also heavily involved, including the American Red Cross.
Mr. Thomas is the executive director of the western Kentucky chapter
of the Red Cross. She joins us now from Lexington. Misty. You were
in eastern Kentucky earlier this morning. We've all seen the pictures
on television and in newspapers, but you were there. What is the
sense you get by being there that that pictures don't necessarily
transmitter or give the give the rest of us.
You know, it's different when you drive into the actual impacted
areas.
There's a real tangible feeling of sorrow.
That you take on and the people are carrying it on their faces. And
as they're working to clean up their houses and just working to move
forward and recovery, you can feel that sorrow. But it's interesting
in this disaster, one of the common things that I'm hearing from
even our red crossers and then the locals there.
Is how much compassion and love that they're showing each other and
how much they're showing up for each other. So it's been heartwarming
and sorrowful at the same time when you're in the atmosphere, and
in terms of your on the ground response right now, what's the greatest
needs? You're trying to address? And what are the greatest challenges
to addressing those needs? In our response phases? The American Red
Cross. We're working to make sure that we're providing safe shelter
We saw
Um, right at 470. People come into shelters last night, we have almost
300 volunteer Red Cross volunteers on the ground.
So we're providing that shelter component or also making for sure
that we're feeding. We also had the community is bringing in those
in kind donations. So those shelters are acting as a distribution
point as well. And then we're also as American Red Cross. We have
trained volunteers that are health services. So we're making sure
that if any of those impacted have evacuated their homes so quickly,
they left medical devices behind prescription medicines, Eyeglasses.
Dentures were assessing those needs and we're helping to fill those
needs for them.
Getting those replaced.
We also offer mental and spiritual care as well through our trained
volunteers, and we just want to be that comfort and care that they
can lean in on it this time and response as far as greatest needs.
Those are the greatest needs another great number of bridges that
have been washed out by these by this. This flooding are their houses
or their areas or their neighborhoods that are inaccessible that
people may not be able to get to your centers.
Yes, I drove through the area today and there is a neighborhood in
the River Caney area that it's my understanding that you cannot get
to it. But as I was driving through there today, I think the hardest
thing I've seen so far assault today and the guard rails on our roads
or acting as a strainer for the water, and it was catching the debris.
And as I'm driving, I realized what I'm seeing is the roof of a house.
An entire house collapsed and forced into
That guard rail and it takes your breath when you realize that that
is someone's entire everything they own is right there and that guardrail
caught it. We saw that multiple times driving up through that area
and breath at county today, So there are reports that I have been
given personally of terrain that has been washed out inaccessible
neighborhoods. I experienced some really rough terrain today, getting
to where we need to be in hazard Kentucky so the topography has been
affected greatly and there
Hard.
Many inaccessible roads that has been reported to me. Eastern Kentucky
is coal country. It is a very hard scrabble life there, even in the
best of times a hard time
you talked about the sorrow that this hardship upon hardship now
in that area. What's it like?
You know what I expected? Was, um that that hard hit heavy hearted
sorrow and and it is there, But what I was refreshed in my own spirit
with was just how compassionate and how resilient they are. And every
person I've spoken to even my Red Cross volunteers had one today
I had deployed
Many, many times that I've never been to a disaster where the community
has come in and checked on their own people to daily. We give them
a list of things that they need. They bring it back immediately,
and they just kept saying they love each other here. They're very
compassionate about their recovery with each other, So they really
lock arms and they're walking forward. Very resilient.
Very compassionate. So it's surprising to me because even in the
worst of times, there's still there's still a sense of pride and
joy that they had for their community and for each other. So it's
touching Misty Thomas of the American Red Cross. We wish you your
colleagues and everyone in eastern Kentucky all the best. Thank you