BY RACHEL DOVE
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

WARFIELD — In light of recent and ongoing flooding across Eastern Kentucky, many families who were caught off guard are considering ways to prepare for the same situation in the future. Red Cross Disaster Response Team member and Warfield resident Jamie Taylor is sharing suggestions for them.

“They were caught unaware, with little to no warning,” said Taylor. “We’ve heard multiple reports of people waking up in the middle of the night to discover floodwater already in their homes. Others report having just minutes to escape with their lives, while sadly, others were not that fortunate.”

Numerous counties across the eastern portion of the state have been devastated by “historic flooding” that, in some instances, affected areas that had never experienced this type of disaster. On Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that 35 deaths were directly attributed to the floods, with hundreds more unaccounted missing.

Taylor, who began volunteering with the Red Cross in 2013 when local flooding occurred, said it’s especially hard to see his fellow Kentuckians in such a dire situation.

“The number of deaths in our region from these flash floods is heartbreaking,” said Taylor. “It’s one thing to see families displaced from their homes and lose personal items, vehicles, etcetera, but we know that with assistance and the will to work to rebuild, those things can, for the most part, be replaced. But you can’t replace life. You can’t bring back the four siblings swept away in the floodwaters. Life is the most precious gift on earth, and our local area is still trying to come to grips with these deaths and all the others who perished in the raging water.”