16-05-2025
More help available for residents dealing with flood damage
REED, Ky. (WEHT) — A family in Henderson County says they were originally denied assistance after massive flooding last month.
Several weeks later, some organizations are stepping in to help them.
'Even though the water is gone… We are still drowning out here,' Kassi Minton.
Kassi Minton lives in Reed, Kentucky, and says her family home is a shell of what it used to be. She says 19 inches of water came into their home during flooding last month.
'We used Styrofoam tile in most of the house, and so that immediately started molding. We also had the old paneling walls, which immediately started molding and buckling. We lost all of our cabinets in the kitchen. As the walls started to buckle, the top cabinets fell. As water started receding, my bottom cabinets started deteriorating,' Minton says.
Minton says they lost everything. She says almost all of the stuff they own fits inside a shed. After initially being denied assistance, Minton reached out to the Henderson County Emergency Management Agency.
'It feels like a six-thousand-pound cinder block is finally coming off my chest. Because we did not know or even how to get help,' Minton says.
Minton says United Way helped ease the financial burden by helping them find an Airbnb. 911 Gives Hope also helped raise money for flooding victims, like Minton and her family.
'We wanted to go ahead and give you these three gift cards so that you guys will have that and can get some goods that you might need,' says Jill Ward, the Henderson EMA Assistant Director.
Several organizations are also coming across state lines to help. United Methodist Committee on Relief, or UMCOR for short, arrived to help Minton this week.
'You can pray for a hole if you want to, but God wants you to pick up a shovel, so that is what we are going to do. We have some teams from as far away as Montana coming in to help clean up,' says Reverend Jeff Graham with UMCOR and Pennyrile District Disaster Response.
'Help is coming, it may just take time. Continue to pray and reach out to your local resources,' Minton says.
Henderson EMA says there are several resources available to help with cleanup. Christian Aid Ministries is coming to the area on Friday to help haul away debris.
'There is a lot of construction debris and different types of things that need to be picked up and put into trash bins and dumpsters and things like that, so they are going to be doing that tomorrow and get that out of here… then they are going to the next house. And we have quite a few houses that need to be done,' says Henderson EMA Director Kenny Garrett.
Henderson EMA also hopes to open a disaster recovery center sometime next week.
'Once we get that opened up, we should be able to help you out a little bit more with the different types of agencies that will be there to help,' Garrett says.
Garrett says there is a Kentucky Emergency Management hotline residents can call to get help with housing and financial assistance. The number is (502)-607-6665.
Garrett also says Crisis Cleanup is another tool residents can use. It's a collaborative platform that helps volunteers, like Christian Aid Ministries, find and connect with residents who need assistance. More information can be found here or by calling (270)-826-2107.
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