Brentwood group helps flood victims in Eastern Kentucky

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WSMV) - In Kentucky, 37 people are reported dead after flooding and Governor Andy Beshear says hundreds are still missing.

Lives are lost, but so are the towns and homes. One Brentwood organization is in Eastern Kentucky helping victims.

Hope Force International in Brentwood is a disaster relief organization. They said they were in Western Kentucky assisting with tornado clean up when they got a call to head out east.

“Some are very shell shocked,” said Deb La Forge, one of the Hope Force International volunteers.

She said they are there to help flood victims get back on their feet.

“And we’ve seen homes that have as much as three feet even up to the ceiling in some of these homes,” described her husband, Steve La Forge.

From what they can see, East Kentucky is still underwater. They said bridges are washed out and roads are nonexistent.

“I mean it’s three or four counties that are affected,” said Deb. “And these are little counties, they aren’t used to dealing with things like this.”

The La Forge’s say they were also in Waverly last summer after the deadly flash flooding. They believe it was easier for that area to receive help.

“With Waverly, the comparison is as soon as the water came down, which was just a couple hours, we were in those places,” said Steve. “Here it’s been four or five days and there’s still a tremendous amount of people we cannot reach.”

Steve says a big county or city full of people nearby, is two hours away. With hundreds of people still missing, the La Forge’s say they plan to be out in East Kentucky for days to come.

“Talking with law enforcement and people, they expect those numbers to be a lot worse when they finally get into some of these rural areas where roads are out, stuff like that,” Steve explains.

The good news is Deb said there is a dry spell for the next 36 hours. Rain has been in the forecast for the past few days. They hope this weather will allow more people to be rescued and help the waters recede.

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