You can learn a lot watching nature, it’s almost like nature can foretell the future of how events unfold, how they should be handled. To always remember, hold fast. Take a lotus flower for example, quite possibly the most beautiful living thing on the planet! Without mud and dirt, a lotus doesn’t exist, without the sad, we don’t experience the happy. I agree with this to an extent. We don’t see the lotus fight and bleed while covered by the dirt!

Day 1

July 28th. It’s weird how reading that sentence invokes so much feeling. That morning was just like any, it’s 1:30 am just got done watching some TV and let the dogs out to use the restroom. I remember the smell, the sound of the air. We had I believe 7 days straight of rain before the 26th. I was talking to the spiders on the porch. We had a deal, they kill bugs, they keep the webs. A spider web is awe inspiring, the intricacies, thought, design. They stay on task, and nothing can stop them. 8:02 am for 4th time, my wife woke me up to tell me there was a flood and we needed to leave. My wife is known to exaggerate, but I wanted to sleep. I step outside and couldn’t move. It felt as if God himself at that moment had smite me. In a sense it’s beautiful to watch as the waves just carved earth out of the way as if was meat to an expert’s butcher knife, unwavering. Again, as I stood, I could feel every drop of water, every nerve point felt wet. I stood for what felt like a few hours, wondering about the friends and family I had. Look down, and it’s 8:03. 

As I slowly walked down the hill, memories with each step washed away. To my right I hear screaming! I notice my neighbor and two other people. She’d been stuck outside since about 5:00 am, too afraid to move or do anything. The other two wake up, the railroad disappearing. As my neighbor began to recount her tale, I couldn’t do nothing but just imagine and wonder about the destruction elsewhere. Did we get it the worst? Is my family alive? Are the kids at the school, okay? No Internet, no service, running water still in the yard, it’s a waiting game. As the water slowly lowers, I noticed some crawdads! Probably 100! I was happy with excitement; I went back to the summer of ‘99 when me and my cousins was playing in the creek hunting crawdads. Septic lines still ran the creek. You had to watch your steps and hold your nose! I never imagined my children would get to play with them. As I watched them play, I recounted stories of the past and how papaw told me “If they pinch you, they don’t let go until it THUNDERS!” Smiles, laughter, and joy? With all the sadness how can we be happy? 11:47.

Is the bridge there? Shit, it never even crossed my mind! I thought maybe we can throw some rocks. Maybe we can hear the rock bounce off the bridge? Hopefully! During this time I begin to feel jealous every time I saw a car pass. Why are they so lucky? Me not having any idea the hell any of those people have been through. But you know what, it’s okay to feel a little jealous, that jealousy lets you know you’re alive. I’m not certain of the time but I believe it was around 2:00-3:00 when the water got low enough for us to see that we had no bridge. With no vehicles, no phones, and two toddlers, options were limited. My wife and three kids and I decided to go up on the railroad tracks. Full of briars and poison ivy, my daughters were brave and didn’t complain any. We packed up our small bit of belongings and I turned, closed my eyes, and 35 years of memories just explode! I could feel every fiber of the house as I closed the door. The basketball goal outback that was now a leaking new living room. The mud hole that was the swimming pool when my mom was growing up. Papaw’s garden that now is still submerged underwater. 

No time to cry, no time to fear. As we made our way down the railroad tracks. It resembled a zoo in a way. To the left was two 30–40-pound snapping turtles, elk, deer and beautiful birds! My daughters’ eyes widened as they were in awe of nature’s beauty! On the way down the tracks again just the memories flood my brain. Right here on the piece of mining equipment to my right, I remember tubing on the railroad tracks and my cousins head slapping into it. The rock next to it is where I took my first chew at 13, puked and then fell in said puke. I thought about the mud hole by Eden on the tracks and how overflown it was and how fun it would be to get splashed by a side by side. 

As we walk down the hill to granny’s, it’s a war zone. All the hope I had completely left my body. Silence is all I could speak. Nothing is all I could see. Our ride showed up at the gas station below my granny’s, been on the road 30 second and see a truck stopped picking up a wheelbarrow. At first, I was upset and honestly ready to say something. This is survival, how do I know it’s not their wheelbarrow? I don’t! You continue on, the normal 8–10-minute drive takes close to an hour. Friends’ homes? Gone! Garages? Gone! Animals? Who the fuck knows. All I know is I have no idea what to do. Driving to the Gap, what sad times it was. I don’t think sad is the correct word. The colors I saw were only gray and dark. Preparing myself for each memory seen as we drove was a part of life no one should experience, I was going through my school bus route, but in hell. Every which way I looked couldn’t escape the memories that are now flooded. The more we drove, the darker everything got, trees older than the road that went through the creek stood tall for years, now fragments blocking the light. 90 degrees outside, yet I felt frozen to an iceberg. We went straight to my wife’s mamaw’s house. My wife stated that she was going to work and I should see about helping in the community. I laughed to myself, why help the community? I’ve felt slighted for a while for the things I’ve done and the lack of reward. I thought hmm another chance to work like a mule, I’ll pass. That’s the last peaceful night of sleep I had.

Days 2-4 

The next few days are going to be told together as I can’t remember exact days. We woke up pretty early. I remember being dropped off at the smile faith center as I did my best to ignore the school. What you don’t realize is we all have something inside of us, something that pushes us to survive. While looking at the people coming in and out of the center, my heart begins to grow a little bit. My body started to burn. I can’t explain it, but I picked up my phone and started calling different social service type organizations. Before I knew I had spoken to few places that were in the process of coming or would be in the area. What about the people stuck in hollers? That’s the next place to help. Wrong choice. What we saw the next three days, I can’t describe it, but I’m going to try. When someone has lost everything what do you bring them? Water, dry food, some stuff to clean with. Where do you start? You just go! 

We loaded up vehicles every morning and just went places. The thing is I didn’t realize how addicting it would be to help, you would take one person supplies, they would cry and tell what’s happened to them. I’ve never did meth and there is no drug on the planet that can drive you like making a difference. We hit up at least 30 houses that day in a car that had no business on a regular road, not to mention the flooded, broken holler roads. Going door to door and bringing smiles and hope to people’s faces comes with its cost. For every person who is a good place and has things under control you run into those that just make you say what the fuck!? I remember going up a particular holler and it get worse as you went, it felt as if it was a test to see how far you would go and push yourself, to see what’s your limit? 

I remember going to a specific place up McPeek’s Branch. Guy outside, you could tell he was struggling before the floods. You could see on his face the years of work, pain, dedication! Gone in an instant, you could see a man who hasn’t cried in his life who was pouring like the waters in front of him. We pull up, ask him if he needs anything. The resolve of my people will show, this man whose house has been wrecked, no yard, everything he owned now with a smell of musk. This man thanked and apologized for all the mud in the yard. That moment made me realize this is more! We hugged that man told him it was okay, and we both cried for a minute, gave a nod and we went back to work. He told us about some more houses on up the hill that needed help. I wished the vehicle wouldn’t have made it to the next house. 

We go by houses, dropping off supplies, going door to door to see what’s needed. When you knock on doors, you open yourself up to see what’s inside. Now we have no power where we are currently living, how does one watch tv or keep food cold is a thought we all have. What about loved ones on hospice care? Those batteries run out and not everyone can make it places. We saw a father and son with the father connected to a generator to be kept alive. What can I bring this person? How can I help this person? What can I do for this person? No tears will help this family, my sympathy doesn’t get the power back. But I can drive on. As we stand there not saying anything, the generator kicks and sputters, silence everyone hoping and praying that it kicks back on. This is the life of some people that we never think about. Luckily the son tells us it happens all the time and laughs. Laughs! A palate cleanser was needed, so we make our back to site to coordinate drops. You’d think Appalachia has tons of four wheelers and side by sides, and you’d be right! I think I counted about 10 helping in Jenkins. You would have people come to drop sites and get supplies for themselves and laugh at the notion of coming back and helping others. 

I got home one night in the first couple of nights, and I had a gigantic raw place on my upper eye and lip. My wife asked me about it, I couldn’t quite remember but I do now. That scar I have, I’m thankful for, it reminds me of the challenges that life throws in front of us and what we can do with them. We took a trip up Anderson branch which is on the Letcher/Pike co line. We stopped at every house to check with people and see if everyone was okay. But it was two different worlds. The mouth of the holler was fine, water stacked for days. The further you got the worse you saw, sort of like Dante’s inferno. Going up there was two trailers on the right, older woman on one porch and a slightly younger one on the other. They had been stranded for a few days since there road to the house had fallen, only getting supplies of outside when a county/state vehicle goes by. I was out with my assistant coach Josh and his friend Koty who was in the military. Me and Koty jumped straight in because the area was flooded again, I believe 2 days after the original flood. The water has risen probably a good 6 inches since we had been at that house, and Koty goes to the mom and me the daughter. Come to find out, this people knew my family, they stated that they had no real issues other than no clean water and they couldn’t leave their property, that yes, they could trek down the creek but that’s not appropriate. How would they get to the store to obtain other things? We tell Josh to load them down. The creek has risen I’d say now to knee level. Feeling like we really got to hurry up. Too many houses left up the holler and we must reach them! 

As we get done loading them up and make our way back up the hill to the vehicles, a deer just runs by in the creek and the rain quits. The deer was running just effortless in the creek and it was the first time I saw color since the flood. We continue up the holler stopping to check on people, making sure needs are meet. We list what’s needed that we don’t have to be sure that they can get what’s needed. On our back down we come to a house on the right. It’s my turn to go to the door to knock. When I get to the door, I hear an elder voice. I’m greeted by a warm smile! I see nothing but comfort in this woman’s face, her husband was very nice and frail. After the usual I take my time to ask the couple about more needs. We are talking an elder couple in their upper 80’s! No telephones, no cell service, no power! The couple was as nice and humble as could be! They told us not to worry about them, to find some folks that need help. We made a note to try and obtain a battery phone for these people, but couldn’t find any. 

I remember on quite possibly day 2, going out in Burdine. There was a trailer in the middle of the road by Wayne Fleming’s house! Wayne fought and served his country, I believe in Nam, and was a former magistrate for the county. I made a point to go talk to Wayne. Wayne gave me his opinion on the situation. “Someone down the county didn’t like what I had to say. I said ‘Fuck you!’ and hung up.” Got to love Wayne! As I’m talking and getting amped up listening to Wayne, I hear a voice asking me to help! I briskly jog the 2/10s of a mile on a side road to the main road. There is a house with two stranded handicap obese women in them. How do you get them out? Luckily, I didn’t have to think about that! What they had done was move beds and box springs out and rolled the women on the mattresses, got to area and needed more than someone picked up another mattress. The mud came up about 7 inches! I came in as a second leg, and the women were so thankful and no one took a break straight to the next person to help. This event humbled me. July 28th I’d of laughed my ass off at this. 

It’s been hard to write and remember this. It all comes and goes. I’m not trying to paint myself a saint, so here is one story I’ve recently remembered. On day 2, we go to Food city in Whitesburg. It’s chaos the entire trip. There is just pure sadness. I pretty much turned off, went gray and black with the colors outside. We do our shopping and I just want to get home! But what home? I get pissed and tell my wife I’m going outside. I watch all the fight or flight kick in on everyone around me, see nothing but everyone thinking for themselves. Cars blocking each other just to be 6-foot closer, utter disgrace and disgust, hell this is God’s country! No one knows a stranger, and everyone helps! Except that’s bullshit! I look and a van pulls up to a no spot area, turns the entire parking lot into chaos. I see my wife leaving the store, so I pull up so I go around the vehicle blocking the road as well as a tow truck in the middle of the road. I breeze around, going to take 10 seconds! I open the door, pop the trunk, then I hear a cop tell me to move! I instantly turn around; I see the van still there! I’m pissed! I scream, slam the door! I snapped! The cop told me it was okay, everyone was going through it, I don’t give a fuck though, what about me? What about the little bit I’ve went through! No one cares! The cop just told me to move and walked away. I’ve held this for a long time. I found out why the tow truck was there, a family of 4 died in a car somewhere and they were fishing them out of the creek. How selfish am I? I ask myself every day (6/1/23). What would I have done different? Probably nothing, going through the experience I can say about myself before the flood, I’d be just like every other awful person in every situation. I’d be a German taking up for Hitler in Hamburg in 1934, I’d be a slave owner in 1853, I’d of helped kill Jesus! I’m not going to say I’d do anything different now, but I hope my actions prove otherwise. Remember everyone’s shoes are covered in shit!

To my West Virginia guys I love ya and thank you for inspiring us! 

Days 5-8

This is the day that I think changed me. I woke up and hugged both of my children. After all the other shit it’s good to breathe. On this day Aria started to come with me. We got to the school and the national guard was staying in our gym. Aria asked me “Daddy who is in my gym?” I left my house with no clothes and wearing house shoes, I got a pair of shoes on day 2 and left my house shoes outside the door at the school and every day I looked at those shoes. I walked into the lobby and did what become my routine, I’d take some waterproof band aids and go to work on my blistered feet (I still have dirt up my toenails). We felt it was important for her to see what was going on. I was pissed off when I got to school that morning, not only was seeing the 43 cases of water an eye opener but was no one going to do or say anything? I’ll volunteer! 

A problem we take for granted is access! In most places you can just pick up your phone and call, not in Appalachia. Luckily our school was giving out free Wi-Fi. If our school hadn’t of done that, I wouldn’t be writing this. I woke up on Day 5 with a purpose, I was going to call every senator office I could call. I would lean into to each one with what approach I felt would work. If I was in the phone with a right-wing person, I’d talk about the yuppie hippies and how they ruined the state, and the people suffer. If I was on the phone with a left person, we’d talk about how the coal barons have ruined the state while the people suffer. What’s most common there is people suffer! You and me! But what I learned is to play the game with them, give them something to chase. If they don’t give you what you want, I found a rival and I’d call them, with an election coming up in a few months, ammo was everywhere. 

Sanders, Scott, I called around 30 senators’ offices that day. Did you know we have a Chaplin that’s designated to hold service and study for all senators? Very good people in that office. But we can’t forget our House members! I called them also. I asked Hal Rogers if we were part of his precinct because he didn’t step foot in Jenkins or Elkhorn creek!  I was told to “Lay off Hal, he is old.” (He was young enough to run and win an election). I spoke with Rand Paul’s office, and they were by far the nicest people I spoke to! Senator Paul was so kind that he promised a semi full of supplies that as of the date of writing this (04/11/2023) that he must be making the items himself that’s how much he cares about this! Thank you, senator Paul, for the stuff? Our local 94th rep hadn’t been in the city either, she also lost. I’ll do my best not to mention that name as it disappoints me the most. I would love to see my phone call data from those days. No wasn’t an answer for me. If you weren’t doing what I thought was right, fuck you, hear about me now! It worked some. Between the help of God knows how many Americans, the people who worked themselves to death to help, we had more than 43 cases of water! But that’s a different chapter. 

I got a huge high of energy on this day! I had begun reaching out on social media and utilizing our situation as a chance to help our people! Getting response is huge! You can get consumed by your “importance” but remember it’s not about the one face you see, it is the billion you don’t. The issue you run into around this time is people are telling you what you want to hear so you won’t call them back! I suggest a pencil and paper as well as asking for names. This can speed along the process of getting things accomplished. You must remember your voice and how powerful it is! I wrote on a piece of paper “The Free State of Jenkins,” sent it to some people and told them due to the lack of help we felt as if we had independent sovereignty. You call it crazy, I call trying to survive. Remember also you will get not only PTSD from your story but hearing others. Being a voice comes with having an ear and sometimes that’s all a person needs is an ear and a hug. 

I’ll give you an idea of how our site looked. If you pulled into the school and needed supplies, you would park in a spot and walk in, (this changed a few times so bear with me) and to the right was a sign in! Everyone who got supplies would sign and list how many was in the home. To the left was a lunch line to get hot meals provided by the school staff. Straight in front was cleaning supplies. The cafeteria was set up in different sections, with food ranging from several different perishables, then you had your children’s clothes, toys, as well as baby items together. Then you had bedding and hygiene products. Lastly was some adult clothing. You had paper towels and toilet paper out toward the gym as well as pallets of just random shit. 

The beauty of our location at the high school was everyone knew who the boss was, but we all felt important and had a voice! These days were my happiest of days! Good will for days! By around day 11 we were turning things away! We had so much water, cleaning supplies, and food that we could help more people from the school. 2/5 of the school was flood supplies. Most of it all was private donations from concerned humans about other humans. We didn’t get much state support because we weren’t a designated “drop off site” (please remember this). The thing to remember here is that your need is for years, what can you keep and how can you store it? I would suggest preaching for feminine products (don’t count on Planned Parenthood to help) children’s diapers, special milk formulas. We had a huge need for special milk formulas. Stay away from clothes, too much of a hassle unfortunately. Cleaning supplies, bleach, mold removal, detergent. Mops are a waste of time. Squeegees are the way to go.

During this time, I would meet someone who helped me significantly understand things. I’ll call him K. K was a good guy, he worked somewhere important. I don’t want to oust him as he was good to me. K will come into importance later. My first time meeting K, he got out of a car and had a pair of dirty working boots on. That determined our relationship. If his shoes were clean, I’d used him for as much as I could, but the dirty shoes showed me in a way he had empathy. 

Days 9-12

This is around the time I started to get angry! I’m still pissed off and I don’t know what will stop it. From daylight to dark we had semis, vans, trucks. The school was gracious enough to pay its employees for helping. They would come in at 8:00 and some would leave at 5:00! No issue with this as they don’t have to stay any longer then required. The problem was some of those people felt like they had power and needed to boss others. Don’t ever be this person! People constantly showing up. We also had people from our state and others come to help. I meet John from Ohio he heard about us hopped in a camper and rode down. The man was a saving grace. He was only staying 3 nights but stayed 5. This is around the time all the FEMA horror stories started to roll out. You have people who have paid taxes their whole life. Property, state, city, car, etc. they were being told that destroyed home, livelihood, everything they have ever known is valued at $2,700.00. You’re going to look at a man that shoveled coal sometimes in a 30 inch seem that everything he has sweat and bled for is worth $2,700.00! 

Driving through Neon was like being on Call of Duty VR. Nothing was the same and the color was dark and gray again. It took around 2 hours to make a circle. I didn’t go through Neon to Gawk. I rode with people from Charles Booker’s camp. He was running against Rand Paul who as of this writing is still supposed to be sending supplies! Senator Paul had a high dollar plate dinner in the next city over in Pikeville during all this. I assumed he would drop off the semi during this time. Didn’t happen. Back to Neon, driving through Haymond first looking to the right and noticing what remains of a hillside, with a home that looks to just be hanging by a few blades of grass. Don’t get sad because you have 1,000 more situations to feel bad about. 

We had a really slow day and someone who was former military had just dropped off a bunch of waterproof boots for people to work in the flood. As we are going through and taking everything where it belongs, we get a load of items that needed their tags marked. I get it! We can’t just become a place for people to get items to return things for money. As we are discussing it a State Trooper walks in, overhears us and says “Call Walmart! Their returns are out the door right now with people taking advantage of the situation.” We all have some small talk; everyone talks about the negative with the flood. The cop isn’t talking about heartwarming stories like the one with the boy who climbed on top of his table in his mother’s trailer to carve a hole in the roof so his mother and siblings could climb out. We are sharing stories of people beating the system! About that time the trooper stated he had heard we had some military boots, wanted to know if he could get some for him and his buddies. Pot meet Kettle. Lines weren’t out the door for returns at any place I called! 

I remember being up at the school one day and I was ashamed. We were a place people came to relieve burdens, to get support, see a ray of hope, no? I remember unloading a truck and as we were unloading it there was a woman in a wheelchair, she’d been sitting there 20 minutes probably in a light rain. I walked up asked her what was wrong. She stated that she was told some bullshit, she begins to cry. I gave her a hug and told her I loved her! I don’t care what this women’s story was before the flood. We know her story now because we are also living it ourselves. 

That very same day I overheard several different people who I held of high esteem just laugh about how they had denied people goods! How can we deny donated goods? I totally get what you’re saying to yourself, yea mark tags on expensive items so it’s not a straight scam. “They tried to get four rolls of paper towels and I said NO. Only two for family!” Then they both brag. I get it, emotions are going crazy, you’re pissed. But you know how poor your community is. If someone has to take a roll of paper towels to the dollar store to get a return on 1.25, where are they in their life? What gives us any right to judge them? What if those extra paper towels they hoarded bought extra Christmas? Could have bought extra drugs, but it’s not the point. Let’s be better. I left the school for a few days and went back into the communities, my heart hurt being away from the school and it’s all I thought about.

Some help from out of state came down. This person was a male and they had a male partner. Awesome, you found some bright light in the dark place. We went to a place to help, and we were putting up a wall, as we are working you know normal guy shit comes up. Politics is hot because the flood obviously, this is when the guy we are helping goes on a tirade about gays being up in people’s shit. How he doesn’t care about “fa—-s,” he doesn’t know why they always throw their views up in his face. Pot meet Kettle! As we continued to help, I asked my friend if he wanted to leave, but he told me that gives more fuel to the hate! He wanted to finish this job, then not come back. 

The thing that kept me going was Aria would go to the school with me most days. She was an unofficial mascot so to speak. When kids would come with parents, she would play with them in the toy area and show them all the kids’ stuff. Aria is very selfish and doesn’t share much, but she’s a sweet kid. People would always bring her food back when they’d go somewhere. One day she was playing with a kid and I overheard her offer a kid she was playing with a French fry. She doesn’t share food with anyone? Where did she learn this from? Right in front of her! The kids do what we teach them. I don’t believe we are born with hate; we are born to love! This fueled me for the bad days that were to come. 

Days 13-16

These days like the rest ran so close together it was hard to remember much. The national guard wasn’t around much as they were burning all the clothes and inventorying all the items and goods at each location as this stuff was going to one drop off as that’s what worked in Western KY. Western KY is flat, that worked there. That was explained several times but what do we know? We just ran a successfully self-sustaining center for two weeks. 

We tried our best to take care of everyone at the school, like no special treatment but if you were poor before the flood, you were getting hooked up! We just got a shipment of 40 some bed and box springs! A boy who had graduated a few years prior had rolled up to the school, keep in mind this guy hadn’t had a bed in years. We tell him to roll on back. We load him down with a bed and everything else. You’d have thought we robbed Fort Knox or something. People complaining about how they have a system, a lottery. I don’t know, nor did I give a fuck. He got stuff. As of 4/18/23 we still have beds. 

Day 17

I thought this was going to be the worst day of my life. I was very wrong. It was worse than that. I felt for the first time in my life that I had a purpose, feeling, meaning. It was a high I’ve never had, I explained it to my therapist later that in a weird way the flood was the best thing to ever happen to me. I do the normal morning routine and notice that my shoes I placed there on the first day wasn’t there anymore! I questioned why and then cried, I wasn’t needed anymore. I ventured my way out back to take a safety meeting and cry in peace. 

What I don’t understand is that we are called survivors. I hate it. What have I survived that others haven’t? Why should I be called a survivor when I simple asked for help! Fuck that. Yes the flood was absolutely devastating, the waters with no control. Rain penetrating homes. No one can ever prepare for that. What you can’t prepare for is the PTSD that comes from dealing with FEMA! I’ll walk you through my situation and how it’s still effecting my livelihood. My home was built in the 70s by my uncles and papaw. I’d imagine much alcohol was consumed as well as grass burnt by some. The house was built to hold a family, memories, love, a place to dream! That was stolen from all of us. The joy of the home now is a nightmare. I’ve been back to my home less then 10 times since the flood. It feels like it’s lost, no way to make it home again. When I step foot into that house my gut goes into a pretzel, the overwhelming feeling of nothing?

When I first meet with FEMA I had heard horror stories galore. I took a few hours off helping to head back to my home for the first time since the flood. I meet the worker at a gas station 2/10 a mile from my home. The bridge was out so the tracks was the only way to get there! When I meet with the FEMA worker, he had an accent was very uncomfortable, I could tell I was already judged. He asked me some questions and asked about the home, he followed me in a car up the hill. He put his vehicle in park and asked what we were doing, I said simple “going home.” The way to my house my world went gray again, going back into the darkness so to speak. During this trip I got angry but harnessed it. World got color again, and a plan was set. I was overly nice with the FEMA worker, hell I even made a Deliverance banjo joke. As I held back limbs of briars, we jumped turtles and snakes. We made it to the path, but which one is it? The path was so overgrown I didn’t know which one it was. I took a step forward and he said “It’s okay, I’m not going down there I just needed to see it. I have no idea why you would think I would travel that path.” Without breathing “That’s the path my family took to safety.” We went back and the FEMA worker’s heart grew three times its size? Wrong he lies! We go to the bridge, and he tells me that I’ll have two different cases. One for my bridge and a totally separate case for my home. “Don’t touch your home until FEMA sees it.” 

During one of my days of working the phones I may have pissed some people off, but I don’t care. When people are dying, starving, who gives a fuck? I had got a call saying that I need to meet with Kentucky Emergency Management Director Jerry Reins. I was dead tired and had waited a while on the guys, the center was slow, I was calling it a night. I get to her mamaw’s house and before we pull in, I get a call that I need to be back to the school. I drive back smoking a cigarette. Thinking that this what we need to get is over the top. Hey, you can rest now, we are getting supplied! I get out of the vehicle and light another cigarette and talk to Warren. Look at myself in the mirror, first time I’ve looked at myself in what feels like months. Shirts don’t fit due to the weight loss. Face is dirty, I notice blood coming out of my shoes from the blisters bursting. Put a chew in as soon as the cigarette goes out, let’s go! 

I’m approached my KYEM and 3-4 national guardsmen. We shake hands and walk down the hall to find a place to chat. I’m barely awake, my limp has progressed now. It’s very hard to walk, at the point I haven’t eaten a total full meal since the flood, surviving on energy bars and Red Bull. I wasn’t guarded at all and that was my mistake. I set down and everyone introduced themselves, sitting with some big wigs? I’m not impressed they aren’t dirty. Immediately they do nothing but praise me? How I’ve did this and that, how I should feel immense accomplishment for all I have done. I stop them and tell them that I haven’t did shit but run my mouth, we as a community did this! 

Mr. Reins speaks up “Son, be proud. How can I help your people?” They ask me how many people we are serving, at this point I estimated probably 2000. Mr. Reins’ eyes got big! Then we spoke on hollers. I told them of the hollers we’d been to and of the people “surviving” on generators and the old couple. They didn’t believe me! I literally had to explain how hollers branched off, then branched again. You’d of thought I was trying to teach him empathy with the looks he gave me when talking about my experience. They asked what we need, and I said just a steady stream of MREs and water, this was days 9-11, and we are finally going to get consistent state aide. They thank me. I leave. I left feeling as if I was done. I had accomplished my goal getting supplies for my people! 

The next morning, I start my routine. National guardsmen wave me over. He says can we talk? I say sure. He pulls me aside and tells me that I’ve been advised to quit calling and complaining. That I’m starting to upset some people. I asked who made this request? KYEM! I said “fuck you” got on the phone and filed a complaint. We got one drop of MRE. Plenty of water though. 

This is the only time I’ll talk about my personal politics and why it has changed. I consider myself to be very liberal, that automatically makes me a democrat. The flood changed me and opened my eyes to a lot of things. East Ky was Democratic for 80 years, been Republican now for 30. Nothing has changed but the color of the smell from blue to red. You had countless opportunities to change lives and secure futures but what do we do? We liberals talk about how my children deserve the PTSD that they will suffer for the rest of their lives because Kentucky elected 2 idiots? That’s not a progress I want to be a part of. The republicans that promised the moon yet couldn’t lift off? Daniel Cameron came to Jenkins. That’s awesome and I appreciate that. But this was your base! This was the people that elected you, supports you, fuels the machine so to speak. Your response? “Kentuckians are strong a strong state! They can pull themselves out.” Kentucky is a commonwealth, and second Fuck you all! I truly believe if you’re unhappy you should switch to an independent and ask for open primaries. I truly believe it’s the only way for us to all help each other. I would love to be able to trust my to government again. Let’s steer our differences where it should go, which is at the wedge dividing us! 

National Guard, military, and veterans, you guys mean the world to me. You helped me make sense of a situation that 99.9999999% of the world couldn’t understand. There was so much communication that happened that was non-verbal that just looks could answer. Back pats and pick ups that you don’t know but kept me sane. 

A few stories about experiences with them. Like I said when they first showed up they were staying in the gym. My daughter Aria who was raised in the gym, she had to meet the people staying in the gym. I was very hesitant about the national guard for a few reasons. 1. Government and Appalachia don’t get along, 2. They here to help? Or order? 

Regardless my thoughts were quickly scrubbed away when I found out that they were as depraved as I was. Everyone I meet was empathetic or just a dick, which is the only two reasonable emotions. Some people use a tough facade to maintain composure until alone. Others are jaded from the situation. The best part about being around the national guard was they made you feel a part of them because they have seen what we’ve been through countless times. The therapy I received from these guys on several accounts was mostly unspoken. Gestures and body movements is the communication. 

The national guard had a very dirty ugly job! They had to go into the trailers with the different amounts of tainted clothing (bed bugs, molded, etc…). They had to go around to each school and from what I was told other drop off places. We had an organization called Sheepdog come in. They were amazing men and women! They worked privately to help all those who were hit by the flood. They gave me some medicine because I refused to leave the donation site. These guys came in with a purpose and that was to help as many people as they could. I would speak with Paul and he’d give me a rundown of his mostly 20-hour day. It was constant motivation talking to these guys. They could read you and knew what to say, and the guys who didn’t know what to say would fuel you by out-working. We probably unloaded 10,000 cases of water. These guys some in 60’s wouldn’t quit! They were over in Neon just working their balls off, they had been there for a few days as that was Paul’s home! Take care of yours first, I get it. 

Wesley Bryant is a father of 5 daughters and loves Appalachia. Wesley was at his home on July 28, 2022 that the family is preparing to move back into.