The Center for Rural Strategies’ film will air on WYMT Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Communities emerged battered but not broken, revealing the strength and resiliency that’s persisted after the storm of a century. The film reveals stories from the flood that killed 43 people across East Kentucky.
WHITESBURG — By the time retired coal miner Terry Morgan got out of bed, the water was already up to the carport.
“Twenty-five, thirty minutes, it was this high,” Morgan said, pulling his hand across his chest. “It was all I could do to keep my feet on the ground.”
Morgan is one of the local residents featured in the documentary “East Kentucky Flood” that will air on WYMT-TV, Monday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
“East Kentucky Flood” is a half-hour documentary that showcases some of the stories of local residents who lived through the devastating floods that ravaged much of the southeastern corner of the state in July 2022. The program was produced by the Center for Rural Strategies, a Whitesburg-based nonprofit.
“We were lucky. Our offices were spared from the water by a few inches,” said Dee Davis, president of the organization and a member of the production team. “We felt it important to record what so many east Kentuckians were going through. And throughout the region there were so many acts of heroism, sacrifice and resilience. We just scratched the surface.”
After the local premiere on WYMT-TV on Jan. 30, “East Kentucky Flood” will be broadcast statewide Feb. 15 on KET, the Kentucky public television network.
The Center for Rural Strategies
For more than 20 years, the Center for Rural Strategies has been laying the groundwork: advocating for rural America by building relationships with a cross section of rural and urban allies, digging into the challenges we face as a nation, and telling stories that illuminate how we are connected to one another. Its key programs include:
● The Daily Yonder, an online journalism platform focused on rural life and culture.
● The Rural Assembly, a national program of convenings that brings a cross section of rural people together to investigate issues, set policy priorities, and create connections among both rural and urban stakeholders.
