KET this month will air East Kentucky Flood, a half-hour independent documentary by the Center for Rural Strategies that tells the stories of the 2022 flood in Eastern Kentucky through the communities and residents who endured it.

East Kentucky Flood 
KET Wednesday, Feb. 15 • 10/9 pm 

KET2 Sunday, Feb. 26 • 9:30/8:30 pmWatch on-demand at KET.org and on the PBS Video app

The film’s stories, which include the actions of a life-saving firefighter in Whitesburg as well as the rebuilding of the IGA grocery store in Isom, reveal what Eastern Kentucky communities went through during the July flood and offer a preview of the rebuilding work that lies ahead.

East Kentucky Flood also features the stories of individual residents such as Willa Johnson of McRoberts, who struggled to decide whether to move out of the region after the flood devastated her home. Others, like Seth Long of the nonprofit Homes, Inc., are working to build housing that will be safe from flooding in the event of another catastrophic storm.

“We were lucky,” said Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies and a member of the production team. “Our offices were spared from the flood waters by the width of a brick, maybe four inches. We felt it was our responsibility then to document what so many of our neighbors were going through. And we just scratched the surface of the many acts of sacrifice, heroism, and resilience.”

The Center for Rural Strategies 

For more than 20 years, the Center for Rural Strategies has been laying the groundwork: advocating for rural America by building relationships with a cross-section of rural and urban allies, digging into the challenges we face as a nation, and telling stories that illuminate how we are connected to one another. Its key programs include:

• The Daily Yonder, an online journalism platform focused on rural life and culture.

• The Rural Assembly, a national program of convenings that brings a cross section of rural people together to investigate issues, set policy priorities, and create connections among both rural and urban stakeholders.

KET

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, where learning comes to life for more than two million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization at KET.org, on Twitter @KET and at facebook.com/KET.