The Medical Leader

By MARY MEADOWS
Staff Writer

PIKEVILLE — There was no shortage of heroes when the rains pounded Pike County on July 17.

The response to the storm has been tremendous, including people in local communities and officials at the county and state levels.

Officials report that between six and eight inches of rain fell in central portions of the county, causing the river to rise four feet in one hour — a problem that has never occurred before in Pike County. Estimates are that more than 400 homes were destroyed by the flood. Some of the hardest hit areas were Raccoon Creek, Winns Branch, Blackburn Bottom and Harless Creek.

Two deaths were attributed to the disaster. The body of Danna Walters was recovered from the Pikeville Pond, Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford said, after she was swept away by the flood waters in Chloe Creek. Craig Morris of Hindman died when he fell off a bridge in Zebulon while looking to see if a family member’s house was hit by the flood.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the two people who lost their lives in this tragedy,” Gov. Steve Beshear said. “We’re probably fortunate that the flash flooding happened at dusk. If it happened at night, we would have seen a much bigger loss of life.”

Rutherford said rescue crews from Floyd, Johnson, Martin and other counties assisted in the rescue of 53 people who were stranded on top of cars and houses, in trees and in the water as the flood hit Raccoon. In all, 70 people were saved from flood waters, he said.

Beshear met with local leaders and via phone with Congressman Hal Rogers on July 19 to coordinate cleanup efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, state and county officials are conducting joint evaluations of the damage this week to speed up the assistance process.

Officials with the governor’s office and the Kentucky Community Crisis Response Team provided mental health services to flood victims on site Sunday morning. Beshear and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers toured the flood-torn areas Monday.

The Kentucky National Guard also provides services. Beshear said state officials will do everything possible to help Pike County dig out of the storm’s devastation as quickly as possible. Rogers promised to work with federal officials to assist in the effort.

Beshear said the flood was the worst flash flood the county has seen because of the sheer force of the water. Homes, mobile homes, vehicles and debris were pushed downstream and destroyed by the water.

Rutherford and State Representative Leslie Combs said the scene left behind in the wake of the storm resembled the devastation caused by a tornado.

Officials in the meeting reported that the flash flood affected water service to 25,000 residences and electricity to thousands of customers. AEP officials reported Monday that power had been restored to all but 1,000 residences.

In the areas hardest hit, entire roads and water infrastructure were completely destroyed. Some areas are only accessible via all-terrain vehicles. The county and state will immediately focus on getting at least one lane open on all roads, and the task will be extremely difficult in places like Harless Creek, which now has no road.

Officials with several local and state agencies, including the county and city governments and the state transportation department, have worked around the clock to help flood victims.

And for the people affected, the help from local officials and emergency responders and local community residents and churches has been the saving grace.

Robyn Tackett, Director of the Big Sandy Area Red Cross, reported that 29 people were waiting in line for the organization’s shelter when the doors opened at Pike Central High School at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. Approximately 50 people sought shelter there on Monday.

“We’ve got people here who don’t have a home to go back to. They’ve got a roof,” Tackett said.

The shelter can handle up to 150 people. WestCare Emergency Homeless Shelter and the Cedar Bottom Church at Kimper are also providing shelter to people and families displaced by flooding. The Pike County Health Department also opened a shelter for people with special medical needs and the Appalachian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has offered to care for pets displaced by the storm.

Red Cross volunteers stayed at the shelter all week to ensure that the needs of all families were met. Volunteer David Lee Ingles worked at the shelter all night on Saturday and left around noon on Sunday, when he was scheduled to begin boot camp for the U.S. Marines. Another U.S. Marine, Lance Corporal Ray Slone of Elkhorn City, also provided countless hours to the cause.

“I know right now is a bad time for everybody. But we’re going to be here 24-7, no matter what, to help them,” Red Cross volunteer Amanda Presley said.

Since the shelter opened, countless people and churches have dropped off nonperishable food items, clothing and other goods. The Red Cross is now accepting donations at the Pikeville Fire Department Training Center on Chloe Road in Pikeville.

“You can’t not do it,” said Matt Barter of Coon Creek, who dropped off a box of goods at the shelter on Sunday.

His fiancée Ashton Parker said they emptied their kitchen cabinets to help flood victims.

“I’m a social work student at Pikeville College and I did some work at the homeless shelter,” she said. “The shelter is always full of people even when there aren’t disasters and there’s not enough to go around already. When a disaster hits, everybody who can should do something to help. Every little bit helps.”

The list of people helping after the storm includes churches, organizations and businesses from Pike and surrounding counties, as well as teams of volunteers who are stepping in to help their neighbors. The list even includes the East Ridge High School football team, who distributed water and other goods and shoveled mud from flood-soaked homes and properties this week.

During the height of the storm, the list of heroes included the owners and residents of the Trinity Gardens Mobile Home Park in Zebulon which was utterly destroyed in the flood. Of nearly 30 mobile homes in the park and an adjacent mobile home park owned by Steve Pinson, only one home survived unscathed. The force of the water pushed, crushed and toppled the homes across the property. The wreckage of two homes and one car were wrapped around a telephone pole on Sunday.

“Everybody got out, even down to all but two pets,” park owner Donald Thompson said. “It came up so quick. I went to help one lady out of her home and she was on dialysis. There was no water when I went in to get her. By the time I got her down the steps, she was ankle-deep in water. The last lady we helped out, we waded water up to our waist to get her out. When another boy went in to get her pets, the water was up to his chest. We thought we were going to lose him.”

But no one was lost in either mobile home park. Several cats and a few dogs fell victim to the flood in Pinson’s park.

“We ain’t got nothing left, but we’ve got our lives,” said tenant Danny Dwayne Casey. He and his father Dodge helped many people get out of their homes when the flood hit the trailer park.

“We started trying to get our stuff out and an old man asked us to help him,” Casey said. “So we quit fooling with our stuff and started helping everybody else.”

They stayed at the Red Cross shelter on Sunday with Casey’s mother Charolinda and her seven-month old daughter Mika Nicole. Charolinda said the men were her heroes.

After Thompson and several of his tenants helped rescue flood victims, he and his wife Jesse opened up their home, allowing more than 20 people to spend the night with them. “That house is a material thing. The mud from the flood will clean up,” Thompson said.

Thompson and his wife gave their clothes to flood victims, fed them and helped them cope with losing their homes. Many victims were still there Sunday. He worked alongside flood victims to help them dig out in the days following the flash flood.

It’s the second time his lots have flooded. He said he won’t rebuild.

“I’ve seen the people tortured enough,” he said. “I can’t see that no more. I hope they come in and take these people and put them on higher ground,” he said.

He and Pinson blamed the construction of U.S. 119 for flooding in the area. They said it didn’t flood there until after the construction was completed.

The same sentiment rang from Combs and State Representative Keith Hall, who toured the area on Sunday. During the meeting on Monday, they asked Beshear and Rogers to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help flood victims. Many of them, Hall said, have already talked to the Corps about the flood buy-out program and were waiting on word about whether the Corps would purchase their flood-prone property when the latest storm hit.

Sen. Ray Jones noted that residents will need help getting the fair market value of their homes as they stood prior to the flood.

Rutherford urges all residents who had flood damage to document the damage with pictures and call 606-432-0210 or 606-437-4126 to report it.

The Pike Ministerial Association, Pikeville Medical Center and East Kentucky Broadcasting are working together to help Pike County flood victims.

The organizations are hosting “Flood Aid”, a radio-thon on Sunday, July 25, at 1 p.m. in the main lobby of the hospital. The live broadcast will be aired on all nine radio stations of East Kentucky Broadcasting. The goal is to raise money and supplies to help Pike Countians who were impacted by last weekend’s flash flooding.

Volunteers will man phones in the hospital’s lobby to record pledges and accept donations. All funds will be distributed by the ministerial association to help flood victims.

A truck in the hospital’s front parking lot will also be available to accept drop off donations of bleach and cleaning supplies, non perishable food items, clothing, toys and other items needed by flood victims.

“Pikeville Medical Center always answers the call of need in our community,” Pikeville Medical Center President and CEO Walter E. May said. “As a Christian organization, we are pleased to help the Pike Ministerial Association as area churches come together to respond.” Pikeville Medical Center Chaplain Randy Johnson, president of the Pike Ministerial Association, said “So many families have lost everything. While every church does what it can, when we combine our efforts and work together, along with the hospital and East Kentucky Broadcasting, the help we can provide grows exponentially.”

All donations are tax-deductible and directly benefit flood relief efforts in Pike County. To donate, call 606-437-2111 after 1:00 pm on Sunday, or bring your donation to Pikeville Medical Center’s main lobby.

Pikeville Medical Center showcased the newest and best equipped emergency department in the region with a Pike County Chamber Business After Hours event, an open house and a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 6.

The $10 million investment and 23,000 square foot addition to the hospital provides patients with a more comfortable environment, reduces time spent waiting to see a doctor, and, ultimately, saves lives.

PMC President and CEO Walter May thanked the hospital’s Board of Directors for continued support. He called the grand opening a “banner day” for PMC and the community.

“PMC’s Emergency Department is certainly one of the busiest in the state with approximately 40,000 patient visits per year,” May said. “It’s a daunting task for everyone — the doctors and the nurses and everyone who works in the department — to be ready for any type of emergency.”

PMC Chief of Staff Dr. William Gaunt also expressed his appreciation.

“It is incredible to have all the technology that Mr. May and the board of directors have made available to us so we can take excellent care of our patients,” he said.

The planning and implementation of the hospital’s newest addition took approximately three years. Louisville-based Stengel-Hill Architecture designed the new department, which was constructed by Rose Builders of Pikeville.

The new ED includes two trauma bays, three triage bays, physiological monitoring in every room and on-site digital x-rays and CT Scans. The department is now a better equipped facility, offering quicker response times, much faster access to CT scans and a quicker turnaround on lab work. The goal for PMC’s emergency department is to always provide the best care possible.

“This Emergency Department is committed to providing high quality care,” said Dr. Brandon Smallwood, the Medical Director of the Emergency Department. “In fact, our vision statement is to advance the quality of emergency health care in eastern Kentucky, and we are going to accomplish that goal as we continue to move forward. To provide the highest quality care for this area is why we are here I am really glad to be a part of PMC’s Emergency Department.”

Smallwood introduced members of the Marshall Emergency Services Associates (MESA), a group that provides physicians for the Emergency Department.

In attendance were Dr. John Mullins, Dr. Doug Smith, Dr. Brent Rody, Dr. David Minix, Dr. Anthony Keene, Physician Assistant Shelebra Bartley, Mike Kitchen and Amanda Meyer, a physician liaison, all who work in cooperation with PMC to make sure there is adequate staff to take care of the patients.

Michelle Rainey, the Nursing Director of the Emergency Department, introduced a new directive called “direct to bed mode” which allows patients to be immediately taken to beds (when available) instead of the triage area for registration.

“Our goal is quality care and we are focused on getting the patients in and out quickly,” Rainey said.

Local officials said the facility will benefit the region.

“Pikeville Medical Center means so much to this area,” said Pike County Judge Executive Wayne T. Rutherford.

“It’s the county’s largest employer. PMC is an integral part of our community. It is great that this hospital has invested 10 million dollars to improve emergency medical care. The construction projects bring a lot of jobs and money to the area, and just look at the potential for permanent jobs.”

Pike County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brad Hall said the new Emergency Department is a “great advantage” to the community.

“I think the medical center is one of the greatest assets we have to show prospective businesses considering a move to Pike County,” he said.

Prior to the public open house, PMC’s medical staff and employees and local emergency medical responders toured the facility.

“We have more than 1,800 employees who try to live our mission statement daily … providing quality regional healthcare in a Christian environment. These efforts really say something about our hospital and the efforts of the staff,” Interim COO Juanita Deskins said.

And who gets credit for PMC having an emergency department that is the size, the scope and the quality of this one?

“It’s the Lord God almighty,” May said. “If He doesn’t bless this institution, we don’t amount to anything.

“So many doors have opened for this hospital that this is the only explanation for our growth.”