Farmer Baker has felt lost since the devastating 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky. That July night, a wall of water swept through his holler in Lower River Caney, tragically killing his wife and washing away their home. For two years after, he has lived nearby with his oldest son.
“The water came so fast,” Farmer recalled. “We always knew those [silt pond] dams were there above us and that if they ever broke, we’d be destroyed. And that’s what happened.”
Thanks to Fahe Member Housing Development Alliance (HDA), Farmer has a new sense of healing and hope.
He has moved into a new home in the Blue Sky subdivision, safely located above future floodwaters. Hundreds of people in HDA’s service area are still displaced from the 2022 flood and in need of proper housing. HDA is working with 210 affected households for home repairs or new construction.
The central Appalachian region has seen numerous unprecedented rain events in the last couple of years, and many residents in 2022 had just repaired their homes from an earlier flood 18 months before. HDA has been integral in the push for a lasting recovery for the region. Recovery done right, prioritizing building resilient homes outside of flood prone areas, has the potential to overcome some of the region’s long-term challenges.
But creating a future-thinking recovery entails more financial support than rebuilding the status quo, an estimated three times as much once infrastructure and other costs are factored in (source: Ohio River Valley Institute).
HDA’s advocacy helped marshal support for Kentucky’s high ground initiative, which will aid nonprofit developers in the region in the construction of more than 650 homes that, like Farmer’s, will rise above future flooding.
Farmer is grateful for his new home, even though he wishes his wife, Vanessa, could be there to share it with him.
