Communities across Kentucky are still reeling from the recent flooding, with Mt. Washington being one of the hardest hit areas. Several residents in one neighborhood reported that the water damaged their homes and upended their lives, with some families even being forced to evacuate by boat.

Flood Risk Concerns

Many residents in the affected neighborhood do not have flood insurance because the area is not considered a flood zone. Now, they are left to clean up and try to rebuild on their own. For Brooke Stearns, the flooding destroyed what she described as her dream home on Maple View Drive.

Stearns said she and her family have lived in the home for a little over two years and were out of town when the floodwaters tore through the property. She watched much of the damage unfold through surveillance cameras and said the flooding totaled her car and destroyed her furnished basement.

Neighbors said the flooding problem is tied to a creek that runs through their yards and under the road. They said once the drain fills up, the water has nowhere to go except back into nearby homes. Residents are now worried that the same thing could happen again and are calling for officials to address the drainage issue or stop allowing homes to be built in the area.

Joe Batista, a resident in the affected neighborhood, said officials should either fix the drainage problem or declare the area a flood zone so homeowners can buy flood insurance. “If they can’t fix it, then don’t let anyone build or live along this side,” Batista said. “Don’t issue permits and certificates of occupancy for new houses to be built knowing that this place gets flooded.”

Original reporting: WLKY Louisville — read the source article.