One year ago, the state was dealing with the aftermath of widespread heavy rainfall that brought deadly flooding to several counties.

One region hit the hardest.

Eastern Kentucky is still trying to recover after catastrophic flooding hit the area just three years earlier, after the 2022 flooding.

State and local governments, along with nonprofit builders like the Housing Development Alliance, began working together to build high ground communities in eastern Kentucky to provide safe housing options for flood survivors.

Among those getting a home, a Perry County woman who survived two flood disasters and is rebuilding her life on higher ground.

The 22 flood was the first, you know, major flood, or catastrophic event that I actually lived through, in Perry County.

The 2022 flood, was impacted minimally.

Just small minor, easy fix damage that, happened to my home.

And then three years later, the 25 flood the water.

Actually, it was continuing to rise, continuing to rise.

And we finally made the decision.

Hey, we need to leave.

And we actually set the porch camera.

We turned it facing the river so we could kind of watch it, and I watched until the water took over the porch camera.

And that was the last footage I had of my home.

We had floods in 21 and 22, so we were already in kind of disaster mode.

But even if you go all the way back before those floods, we've had a long standing housing crisis.

So, for example, the day before the 22 flood, which was so devastating, we were already working with 250 households who wanted to buy a house, who needed a home, and about another 250 who needed their home repaired.

After we had the 21 disaster and then the 22 and now the 25, it really I think people are understanding that flooding is going to continue to happen, and it's critical to move people out of harm's way.

And, when you're talking about relocating people, the immediate question is where I think a lot of local leaders and the governor kind of came, came to the same conclusion, which was, we can't just keep doing what we've always done and putting people, just rebuilding back in harm's way.

We have these narrow valleys and steep mountainsides, and it can be really challenging to find places to build houses.

And and so the governor has really pushed for, rebuilding on top of reclaimed strip mines, in a way that's safe and sustainable.

And that has opened up a lot of properties.

When you're talking about trying to rebuild hundreds of units, you really need a lot of units.

And at one location you can't do that.

Five units here, one unit here, you got to have a big, and that's where the high ground communities, I think really.

Come in, get Skyview.

We built what we call, referred to as kind of the model homes, the first five homes.

And those were partially funded with Team Kentucky dollars.

And so those are really targeted to, flood survivors.

To go from thinking you're said, you know, is you're living in your childhood home, that you were brought home and raised in, and just watching it kind of be stripped out and under your feet to living with family and friends, you know, from day to day, a potential different home, to finally have them wanting to just come on, it might, you know, it might have a big difference.

It it's just it's comfortable.

I've adjusted, you know, now knowing that it is mine.

And, you know, I have somewhere I'm safe, and I don't have to worry about it anymore.

With the neighborhoods growing, I was actually the one of the first ones to move in.

And now there's, you know, upwards of 12 families, moved in.

And by this time next year, probably 212 families, you know, at the rate is.

Going, oh, we're going to be really, really busy building houses as fast as we possibly can for the next 2 or 3 years as we try to fill up these high ground communities and get as many people housed as quickly as possible.

I think all of the housing providers and I know my organization is already looking ahead to, hey, if we can build 60 houses a year, during this crisis, how can we find enough resources, to keep building at that level?

Because that's really what the community needs.

I mean, you know, we the our service area is short hundreds of units, and these, disaster recovery houses are going to make a dent in that, but we're still going to be short hundreds of units.

And so we really need to figure out as a community, and as a, as a region and as a state, how we can continue to build houses at, at this scale.

And some great news from Samantha Turner.

Good news indeed.

There are currently eight designated high ground communities in eastern Kentucky.

In addition to Perry County.

There are developments in Breathitt, Floyd, not, and Letcher counties.

The goal is to provide more than 500 new permanent homes for families.