BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — If 2025 had a shape in Martin County, it was uneven ground. The year rose with moments of promise and dropped without warning into loss and disruption, forcing people to find their footing again and again.
Water told much of the story. It fell as snow and ice, rose into homes and businesses, seeped beneath foundations and still flowed from taps many could not trust, even as the county marked moments of renewal, resilience and change.
January: Solar flips switch, Winter Storm Blair
The year kicked off with Martin County Solar Project (Savion/Shell) flipping the switch on an 111-megawatt electricity-generating plant on the former Martiki Coal mine site in Pilgrim.
Winter Storm Blair arrived in early January with heavy snow, ice and bitter cold, quickly becoming one of the most disruptive winter events in years. Roads iced over, power outages rippled through communities and water systems strained under freezing temperatures and breaks, prompting Martin County Judge Executive Lon Lafferty to declare a state of emergency.
For residents accustomed to boil-water advisories and emergency fixes, the storm was a stress test that exposed how vulnerable aging infrastructure remains when extreme weather hits. Emergency crews, utility workers and volunteers worked long hours to keep roads passable and to restore utilities. Still, the storm reinforced a familiar truth: when systems fail in Martin County, weather often pushes them over the edge.
As cleanup continued, the county moved into a year that would prove relentlessly shaped by water in all its forms — frozen, rising and, for many households, still undrinkable.
February: Flooding, WWATERS
Barely weeks after Winter Storm Blair loosened its grip, heavy rains in mid-February brought flooding of streams, storm drains and streets, mudslides and rockfalls across eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia.
The Tug River swelled and left its banks, backing up Wolf Creek and other direct tributaries, causing them to leave their banks. The river crested at Kermit at 51.22 feet at 12:30 a.m. Feb. 17, marking its second-highest level since April 6, 1977, when it reached 54.5 feet at Kermit.
Homes flooded, roads were blocked, families were stranded and thousands were without electricity. Residents found themselves escaping their homes, some in waist-deep water carrying what they could on their shoulders. As the situation intensified, first responders began rescuing residents in boats in areas where it was safe to do so.
That still left hundreds stranded in areas where the water was too swift and wild for boats. That is when the county requested assistance from the Kentucky National Guard, who rescued 296 from Riverside and Dempsey housing complexes in the Warfield area. They also rescued countless others in the greater Lovely area on Wolf Creek and Route 292.
In Warfield, floodwaters surged more than 5 feet inside the town’s only supermarket, forcing it to close indefinitely. Mud and debris filled the building. Residents suddenly found themselves traveling miles out of town for groceries and other necessities. The closure altered daily routines and placed additional burdens on elderly residents and families without reliable transportation.
The February flood marked the fifth time water had breached the store since 1977, reinforcing long-standing concerns about floodplain vulnerability and the limits of insurance and federal disaster assistance. FEMA aid did not materialize, and insurance coverage fell short, leaving recovery squarely on the shoulders of the owners.
The flood swept through Martin County’s water and sewer infrastructure as well, leaving it heavily damaged with repair costs expected to approach $3 million.
At the state level, water funding issues surfaced in Frankfort. When House Joint Resolution 30 came before the General Assembly, Feb. 27, it included Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems Program funding for numerous communities — but not Martin County. Representative Bobby McCool voted “no,” citing the bill’s failure to allocate funding to one of the state’s most persistently distressed water systems.
McCool congratulated the recipients listed in the bill for securing awards.
“Unfortunately, today I have to vote no on this bill simply because one of the most distressed areas in Kentucky that we have talked about for years, or since I’ve been in the House, even before I assumed the role of serving Martin County, as I understand, is not on the list,” McCool said.
“How that came about is beyond me. How they achieved that scoring is beyond me. What I do know is the folks in Martin County are fine folks. They have served this Commonwealth well for many years, provided millions of dollars in coal severance money to our Commonwealth, and when they need help, unfortunately, this time they don’t get it.”
McCool stressed that his objection was not directed at the bill’s sponsors or those who worked on it.
“I’m not saying no to anybody who got the funds because you deserve that,” he said. “But I cannot just sit back and say, ‘I accept what has been done,’ knowing that Martin County has been the poster child for water and wastewater, and they do not receive a penny of these funds.”
The WWATERS program, established through 2024 legislation, set aside $150 million to aid the state’s poorest and most distressed water and wastewater systems, with $75 million to be distributed in the 2025 General Assembly and another $75 million in the 2026 session. The Kentucky Infrastructure Authority (KIA) oversees the program, scoring and ranking eligible applicants before presenting the list to the General Assembly for consideration in a competitive process.
Among the 12 evaluation criteria, two significant factors include notices of violation under the Safe Drinking Water Act or Clean Water Act within the past year and a water loss rate exceeding 30%.
Following McCool’s statement, the Mountain Citizen reviewed the KIA scoresheets for the Martin County Water District, uncovering that KIA had omitted points for water loss (which exceeded 68%), a notice of violation issued Feb. 14, 2024, and other points.
The disconnect between lived conditions and state-level formulas would become one of the year’s defining tensions.
March: WWATERS scrutiny, Dr. Fletcher
By March, attention turned squarely to how Kentucky’s Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems program was being implemented.
Martin County residents and officials pressed for answers about scoring, income data and ranking methodology. The issue was no longer abstract. After winter storms and February flooding, infrastructure failure had immediate, visible consequences.
Local government meetings continued against that backdrop, with discussions often circling back to capacity: what the county could realistically fix on its own, and what required state or federal intervention.
In mid-March, the Martin County Board of Education unveiled the name of the new elementary school under construction next to the high school in Inez as “Martin County Elementary School.” The same week, Dr. Robbie Fletcher, the Kentucky Commissioner of Education, paid tribute to the late Frank Baldridge, a beloved, legendary academic coach from Martin County.
At the end of March, the Martin County Health Department and community partners stepped up to rebuild joy for local children affected by the February flood.
April: Flooding, ground failure, trails
April brought another round of heavy rains and, with them, a second flood event that caused immediate and widespread damage and endangerment in Martin, Mingo, Wayne and surrounding counties. The Inez Volunteer Fire Department rescued 12 individuals and suffered flooding of its Tomahawk station.
Meanwhile, the Curtis Crum Reservoir overflowed, flooding private property below it.
Across the region, roads collapsed into the floodwaters.
Along Old Route 3 in the Grassy community, John and Lisa Mollette fled their home as the ground beneath it gave way, splitting the foundation and collapsing the back wall and floor into the soil below. The couple escaped with only the clothes they were wearing. Their house, perched along the bank of Rockcastle Creek, was left unlivable.
The Mollettes had noticed cracks forming in the soil behind their home in early April as rain continued to batter the area. Those cracks spread, sank and eventually wrapped around the back of the house before the structure failed. John was inside the home when the collapse began. Lisa and their daughter were returning from prom preparations when they discovered the extent of the damage.
“It could cave in at any moment,” Lisa said at the time, explaining why the family abandoned their belongings inside. Appliances, bedding and personal items were all lost.
The couple attributed the collapse to heavy rainfall and unstable ground. With the home unsafe to enter, they relocated to a motel. They enrolled in FEMA’s home buyout program, a process expected to take months, while searching for a place to rent or purchase so they could begin again. Unfortunately, the list of FEMA buyouts unveiled in late 2025 did not include the Mollette property.
With two major floods already behind them by spring, residents moved into the warmer months carrying both fatigue and determination, knowing recovery would be uneven and far from quick.
April was not without good news. First Frontier Appalachian Trails officially welcomed its first visitors to the newly opened trailhead on Davella Road in Debord. The group drove 11 hours from Iowa to Martin County to enjoy the rugged mountain terrain.
May: Resilience
As spring progressed, graduations, school activities and community events continued, even as flood recovery lingered in the background. Repairs moved slowly. Some damage went unaddressed entirely.
In Martin County, resilience often looks like people showing up to ballgames and church dinners while quietly navigating loss, repairs and unanswered questions about when or if help will arrive.
Inez swelled with music and meaning May 17 as “Rich Men North of Richmond” singer Oliver Anthony brought a free day of music to the downtown. Crowds packed in to hang out with artists.
Anthony also joined an off-road trails ride to honor veterans.
On May 23, Martin County High School celebrated the graduation of 132 seniors in the Class of 2025.
June: Planning, preparation, pressure
By early summer, a Kentucky homebuilding company announced its expansion to Martin County, with plans to open a factory in the Eastern Kentucky Business Park in Debord. Frontier Housing signed a lease for the county’s 55,000-square-foot speculative building on Honey Branch.
Meanwhile, local agencies and civic groups shifted into planning mode for festivals, youth programs and seasonal events. At the same time, public discussions around water, compliance and funding did not fade.
The WWATERS process loomed over Martin County’s future, with residents increasingly aware that a single scoring decision in Frankfort could determine whether millions in infrastructure investment arrived or passed them by again.
Across the Tug River in Kermit, West Virginia, water was flowing through new lines to households in East Kermit for the first time in a decade.
July: A pool reopens, a small victory feels big
In mid-July, Martin County celebrated a piece of good news: the reopening of the Martin County Swimming Pool, which had been closed since 2016. The pool’s return restored a summertime gathering spot and offered a tangible sign of progress.
The reopening did not solve the county’s larger problems, but it mattered, particularly to children.
At the end of July, residents reported brown tap water across the county. Water officials reported samples from a residence on Newberry Lane in Inez exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lifetime health advisory threshold for manganese at 0.305 milligrams per liter.
Water board chairman Tim Thoma said the brown water was a symptom of corrosive water dislodging mineral buildup inside aging pipes. These findings prompted an ongoing investigation by the water board.
August: Collapse, culture, recovery
Early August brought one of the year’s most harrowing stories. On Aug. 6, George and Ruth Patrick narrowly escaped tragedy when their Turkey Creek Road home collapsed in the middle of the night.
Awakened by strange sounds shortly before 2 a.m., the couple fled moments before the structure gave way beneath them. They escaped with only the clothes they were wearing. Firefighters later rescued their pets from the unstable structure, but the Patricks were left displaced, uninsured and without belongings. Family members said a sinkhole caused the collapse.
Community members quickly organized assistance, offering donations and support through Hearts of Christ Church, another reminder that when systems fail, neighbors step in.
That same month, the Appalachian Artist Festival brought music and creativity to Martin County, welcoming Annalyse & Ryan, a folk-Americana duo based in Beacon, New York. Lead singer Annalyse McCoy took the stage in Inez for her first hometown performance in over two decades.
In late August, Friends of Tug Fork River reported pulling 615 waste tires from the Tug River during a cleanup event, part of an ongoing effort to heal waterways.
September: Warfield Market, school police, Harvest Fest
Nearly seven months without a grocery store, Warfield residents celebrated the long-awaited reopening of the town’s only supermarket under a new name, Warfield Market.
The building had been completely gutted and rebuilt inside its walls, restoring its deli, bakery, butcher shop and produce department. For residents, the reopening marked recovery from one of the year’s most disruptive flood impacts.
Later in the month, Martin County Schools launched its own police department, adding certified officers and new safety infrastructure across campuses.
Community pride peaked during the Martin County Harvest Festival, when downtown Inez filled with thousands of visitors for music, carnival rides and vendors. Festival headliner, Nashville-based singer-songwriter CJ Solar brought a powerhouse performance to Court Street to close the event. His act followed a talent-laden two-day lineup.
Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, the Harvest Fest produced record revenues and showed what the county can look like when streets are full and people linger.
October: Environmental work continues
In October, Martin County High School students welcomed home one of their own — Dr. Robbie Fletcher, the Kentucky Commissioner of Education. The native Martin Countian sat on the edge of the stage and talked with students.
Friends of Tug Fork River led another major cleanup, removing 311 more tires from the Tug River and pushing the program’s total past 18,600 since 2019.
November: National journalism recognition, asbestos
November brought national recognition to local journalism when The Mountain Citizen received the 2025 Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism, honoring decades of reporting on water and government.
The same week, the Martin County Economic Development Board made headlines with its response to an open records request. The lack of documents in the EDA’s response raised new questions about whether the county agency performed adequate asbestos testing before the demolition of a 1947 building in downtown Inez.
December: Christmas in the Mountains, WWATERS, election
WWATERS once again dominated headlines in December. Rankings released by the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority showed Martin County’s proposed water and sewer projects, totaling nearly $40 million, ranked near the top for assistance under the program that is specifically for troubled or economically restrained systems. Instead of ranking projects by weighted scores as it did last year, KIA produced three separate ranked lists:
- A list ranked by weighted score, under which Martin County projects would receive funding
- A list ranked by median household income under which Martin County would receive nothing
- A list ranked by project category, with sub-ranking by score, under which Martin County would receive funding
December also brought cold temperatures and Christmas in the Mountains to downtown Inez.
The beloved holiday festival brought the community together for a season of light, faith and Appalachian warmth. It featured festive decorations, parades, music, children’s activities and church-led events.
December closed with an update of candidates filing for the 2026 election cycle, setting the stage for political contests in 2026 that will shape the future.