Bloomington area residents have connections, provide aid to areas affected by July's floods in Kentucky
Florida’s hurricane crisis may cause us to forget that two months earlier at July’s end, eastern Kentucky was similarly overwhelmed by flooding at levels never seen before, with massive devastation. Here are some local connections worth remembering , including my own.
A picture that went viral showed the Buckhorn Church (called the Log Cathedral) completely surrounded by flood waters. Usually protected by a U.S. Corps of Engineers dam, this flood was generated by Squabble Creek below the dam, washing away homes and structures at a gigantic scale.
Presbyterian mission work in Buckhorn started 120 years ago, when a boarding school and orphanage were organized along with the iconic log church. The high school across from the church, a relatively new building, was completely inundated and unusable for probably a year. The principal, Timothy Wooton, a young man in his 40s, was named after me, when I was his parents’ pastor in the 1970s. This Timothy went on to Berea College, noted for its educational service to the mountains, and now has the unenviable charge of putting things back together. In the meantime, students will be bused over treacherous mountain roads 30 miles to Hazard, the county seat. Like many Berea graduates, he came from very modest beginnings to serve in the area he loves.
Marlene Abner Stokley was the photographer of the picture, chosen by countless media outlets over pictures of upended houses and the like. Her family was familiar to me, as she was one of 13 children born to the Abner clan on Squabble Creek. She and her sister attended Alice Lloyd College in nearby Knott County, also hit strongly by flooding with many deaths. Marlene has for a decade worked at the descendant of the orphanage — Buckhorn Children’s Center, where hundreds of young children have been helped over the years through Presbyterian mission funds. Like many others on the scene, Marlene has emerged out of deep poverty to devote herself to the pressing needs that are all around her now.
Another couple with local ties also have been making their mark. Tom and Gayle Burns have been the “commissioned lay pastors” of the Buckhorn Lake Area Church for the past 15 years. Originally from Owen County, they took training with the Ohio Valley Presbytery before being called to the Buckhorn Church. Gayle had been a stalwart in the Presbytery office here in Bloomington for a decade. Seeking a calling where they could use their ministry talents more extensively, they found the need there in the heart of Appalachia.
Several local congregations have gone to Buckhorn on “work camps” during summer months to help Buckhorn and the Burns. Now, as a result of recent flooding, there are several local churches that are planning to go to that area to help in the huge job of rebuilding and restoration that will be required. In addition to FEMA, state funding, Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse, several church disaster services are already there, including Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and Mennonites. The need is so great, all hands will be needed and useful.
Tom Burns now is the mayor of the little hamlet of Buckhorn, and he has found there a unique calling. Working with the governor and other elected officials, the town needs a totally new water system, among other needs. The Burns have found a calling, thanks be to God! A needy area in crisis is blessed!
When through the deep waters I call you to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,
For I will be with you, your troubles to bless
And sanctify to you your deepest distress
— “Foundation,” Early American hymn
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Kentucky floods affect Bloomington residents, who will now provide aid
