Housing crisis remains in Kentucky's poor Appalachia region after flood waters recede
Nearly a year after deadly flooding hit eastern Kentucky, a housing crisis is affecting the impoverished region
JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Shirley Howard’s feet splashed into nearly a foot of water when she stepped out of bed on a summer morning last July amid a torrential rainfall.
A devastating flood swallowing up Kentucky’s Appalachian region had reached her bedroom in the night. The family grabbed their dogs and fled their brick bungalow in Jackson as the water eventually rose to the ceiling.
Ten months later, they still haven't returned home. Howard, her husband, son and their three dogs, Maisey, Charlie and Lilly, have been living in a cramped trailer provided by the state. At least 100 other families are living in trailers and hundreds more remain displaced, living with relatives or in damaged homes while they rebuild.
“I am so dying to go home every day,” the 65-year-old Howard said.
