Local organizations help flooding disaster in Eastern Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-Nicki Rippy, is living through a nightmare in Virgie, Kentucky. 

“It washed away quite a bit of our driveway, it washed away the ends of our yard,” said Rippy. 

She is one of the many people impacted by the flooding in eastern Kentucky. She also says she’s one of the lucky ones…her family is alive and their house is still intact.

“I just feel really sad for the people that lost loved ones. The destruction and some of these people…cuz our county is mostly retired or disabled coal miners and they live on a fixed income so how are they gonna fix all this,” said Rippy. 

Back here at home in southern Kentucky, local organizations are doing everything they can to help.

“We want to do our part and give back, help out as much as we can,” said BG Freedom Walkers Founder Karika Nelson. 

BG Freedom Walkers are asking for donations like water, non-perishable items and gift cards. Crews will then drive the donations to the affected areas in eastern Kentucky Monday. 

Seven local Red Cross volunteers arrived in eastern Kentucky early Friday morning where they will stay for two weeks to help with shelters, cleanup and spiritual healing. 

“It’s hard to wrap your mind around that it happened as quickly as it did. I can’t imagine the heartache that those families are feeling, the people that are missing and looking for, I hope that they’re found safe in their homes and they can get them out and get them to safety,” said Red Cross of South Central Kentucky Executive Director Jennifer Capps. 

The devastation across the state hits home for us here in south central Kentucky…having lived through a natural disaster recently ourselves.

“When we had our tornado last December it was a lot of communities in Kentucky and different states that helped us,” said Nelson. 

And now even as we still heal from our own natural disaster… we watch our community return the favor to those in need.