‘I need to get out of here.’ Flood-hit counties near Lexington respond with resilience, resignation
Editor’s note: Last weekend’s tragic floods and the wave of bone-chilling temperatures were factors in the deaths of 15 Kentuckians. The emotions of individuals in Eastern Kentucky are swinging between resilience and rebuilding to relocating and starting anew. This story was reported by Austin Horn and delves into the hardships of those dealing with the too-frequent floods in that corner of our commonwealth.
Julio Huerta moved his El Ranchito Restaurant across town in Ravenna about 18 months ago because business was booming.
That popularity followed the Estill County Mexican restaurant, known for its margaritas, nachos and succulent quesabirria, when it moved about a mile south to a bigger building that accommodated its loyal customers.
Huerta said he was determined to keep that business flowing Monday, even as floodwaters from the Kentucky River filled the concrete lot behind his business, creeping just a couple feet away from the first floor.
He’s not moving, and – despite a flooded AC unit and freezer – is determined to get back to business by mid-week.
“We’re not moving,” Huerta said. “We’re just going to keep it up. I hope it doesn’t happen again, but we’re staying here.”
He did question the frequency of these events, though.
“It’s supposed to happen like once in a lifetime, every 50 years. But it’s been three years since the previous owner saw something like this,” Huerta said.
Just over the ridge from El Ranchito, closer to the river, Estill County Emergency Management undertook a boat rescue operation for a man who hadn’t been heard from since the flood began. They did not find anyone inside the building.
A few miles away in the West Irvine community, Nikki Angel says it’s time for her to move. She’s operated Floral Design By Nikki for 15 years. She’s been a community staple – there to celebrate the birthdays and weddings and to comfort the mourning at funerals and visitations.
“I’m always here. People know I’m always here, six or seven days a week,” Angel said.
But it’s time to move.
The swollen Clear Creek, which feeds into the Kentucky River, reached her basement again and stopped a few feet short of entering her shop, as it did in 2021 when the river hit record levels. She and her husband had moved boxes of flowers and equipment up onto tables
“I need to get out of here,” she said.
She shifted between cutting lilies and checking a government website to apply for a loan to build another shop on higher ground.
Do we stay or leave the Appalachian foothills?
That was the mix of responses from business owners and residents Monday in the Appalachian foothills, the knobby region between Central and Eastern Kentucky.
Some are intent on staying put; others see the writing on the wall. All are learning to live with frequent flooding that has become an accepted rhythm of life in this slice of the state.
In Powell County, a Red River more aptly referred to by locals as the Red Sea, covered playgrounds, veterans halls and roadways. It turned woodlands into marshes, backyards into frozen ponds and basketball courts into floating hoops.
In Breathitt County, a hospital had to transfer its patients to other providers across the state as the Kentucky River threatened their safety.
In Lee County, a flood-prone river town is grappling with how to rebuild when its greatest resource has become a regular nightmare.
These counties avoided suffering any reported deaths as of Monday afternoon, but the damage to buildings and property is widespread.
On the other end of the Estill County shopping center, where the florist Nikki Angel works, Chynna’s Small Town Shop found itself in a similar situation. From its small back deck, you usually have to strain to see any water from the nearby creek, co-owner Chynna Hardy said.
Now, what looks like a full-blown lake rose about a foot shy of the deck. Their basement is entirely flooded, though they had the good sense to not leave anything there.
They expect to keep selling clothes, knickknacks and other items from their family-run shop there for the foreseeable future.
Some cities grapple with in-town flooding
In Estill County, flooding was worst on the edges of the community.
In Breathitt and Lee counties, vital parts of city life were either flooded or disrupted due to the threat of flooding.
The Kentucky River Medical Center did not sustain any damage from the flooding. However, the prospect of Panbowl Lake flooding, which is connected to the North Fork of the Kentucky River, caused operations to halt.
According to marketing director Kimberley Boggs, the hospital had to transfer all patients to hospitals in Winchester, Louisa and Louisville over the weekend.
The Lee County seat of Beattyville’s downtown was inundated by the rising Kentucky River. Many routes into town were completely overwhelmed and impassable. A flooded Broadway could only be forded by high-axle trucks.
Most of downtown got swallowed.
The problem here, where only about a dozen people were evacuated or rescued by the county government, was less a matter of life or death and more a question of how to deal with such a recurring and all-encompassing issue.
Churches, restaurants, a grocery store, a gas station – all in the charming town just south of the Red River Gorge -- were flooded Monday afternoon.
“We’ve dealt with these things before – not to the magnitude of what happened now or in 2021 – so we’ll deal with it. It just pretty much puts a stop on life here for a while,” Lee County Judge-Executive Steve Mays told the Herald-Leader as he surveyed the damage downtown.
The county had just finished fixing up its downtown courthouse, Mays said. Same goes for several businesses hit hard in 2021.
In the short term, Mays said the focus is on making sure everyone is safe and then moving toward cleanup.
The long term is a little hazier. It’s hard to look beyond what will be a gargantuan cleanup effort, Mays said.
But he has hope that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood mitigation study funded through the work of Fifth Congressional District Congressman Hal Rogers could provide hope moving forward.
“Our people are strong. We’ve been through this before and we’ll come out of it better than we was,” Mays said.
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
