One year later: Nicholas County community reflects on deadly flash flooding, looks to help EKY counties

CARLISLE, Ky. (WKYT) - Saturday marked one year since a devastating, deadly flood swept through the city of Carlisle. Business owners and residents have come a long way in the weeks and months since, but Nicholas County Judge-Executive Steve Hamilton says they haven’t reached the end of the road to recovery.

Between the night of July 29 and the morning of July 30, 2021, Brushy Fork came out of its banks and spilled into dozens of homes in Nicholas County.

”That day was over as soon as we got up,” said Ed Taylor, who lives in Nicholas County with his wife Jan.

Taylor was one of many whose sound sleep that night was disturbed by the nightmare of their reality.

“This day won’t be forgotten by myself or the citizens of our county for a long time,” said Hamilton.

The flash flooding overnight claimed one life, turned many more livelihoods upside down and forced some in the community into relocating.

”They didn’t have an option,” Taylor said. “The house was off its foundation and tilted on its side - so it wasn’t going to get better.”So Taylor considers himself lucky.

The Taylors did remarkably well to rebuild their house over the past year, but there’s one place they didn’t clean up - and it was on purpose. Taylor says the watermark 18 inches up on their back door is their memento of the flood.

While they remember the past, judge-executive Steve Hamilton says they are also actively looking to help their fellow Kentuckians who are suffering now in the southeast part of the state. Hamilton says they have been working with the governor’s office and plan to offer any assistance they can to the people affected by the catastrophic flooding in eastern Kentucky.

“It’s a way more widespread event than we’ve dealt with… but it was certainly a humbling experience and we feel their pain,” Hamilton said.