In 2022, the mountains of Eastern Kentucky experienced a rainfall event like no other. On the night of July 26th, a band of heavy rain stalled, dumping between 14 and 16 inches of rain in a short period of time. Rivers quickly rose over previous flood markers; small creeks became rivers. In the end, 45 people had died; thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged; and schools, small businesses, and organizations had spaces wiped away. Thirteen counties quickly received an individual federal disaster declaration from FEMA.
Since then, Eastern Kentucky has been impacted by an additional 8 major natural disasters as classified by FEMA that have included additional flooding events, straight-line winds, mudslides, landslides, the remnants of Hurricane Helene, and the heartbreaking tornadoes of May 2025.
Mountain Association has worked alongside the various small businesses, nonprofits, and local leaders who serve as anchors in our communities to recover from the 2022 floods and other disasters, and to build resiliency for the future.
Recovery Loans
Since the 2022 flood and subsequent floods, we’ve invested $1,184,766 in loans to directly support the post-disaster recovery and resiliency of numerous small businesses and nonprofits in the region, including the following:
- Housing Development Alliance, an affordable housing developer based in Hazard, Kentucky. Our Disaster Recovery loans helped rebuild and expand their fleet of trucks, two of which were totaled by the July 2022 flood waters. For them, reliable transportation is critical in supporting their ability to perform their work of repairing and building affordable housing, the need of which has critically multiplied following consistent disaster events in the region.
- An entrepreneurial agri-tech business that ships their products nationwide. We refinanced their original loan to extend their term, help lower their payments, and support their post-flood resiliency.
- A social services organization that supports communities in Floyd County. Our Disaster Recovery loan helped them add a new vehicle to their fleet so they could meet the growing demand for their services, which include both case management and home repair.
Business Support
Deploying specialized capital isn’t the only intervention we’ve used to support regional disaster recovery and resiliency. With the expertise of our Business Support Team, we have been able to prioritize and deliver technical assistance to flood-impacted entrepreneurs and organizations, such as:
- Supporting a long-term recovery group in Floyd County that formed post-flood to support disaster-affected residents. Through our consulting services, we guided them in successfully obtaining 501(c)(3) status and in establishing leadership to support their work which continues today. Also in Floyd County, we supported St Vincent Mission to work with an expert on a system that has allowed them to streamline their disaster operations and cases without losing their personal touch.
- Assisting a marketing agency in Irvine that experienced significant flooding on their property, causing a slowdown in their ability to run their business. They worked with our team to get financial coaching from one of our consultants to support them in getting back to where they were before the floods.
- Guiding a consortium of three nonprofits in Madison County in working together to create EKY Rebuilds, a disaster preparedness library. The library itself features tools like shovels and buckets that can be used for post-disaster clean-up, as well as resources like written guides on how to gut a house after disaster to prevent mold.
Energy Savings and Resiliency
Our Energy Team also aided four organizations with planning for backup power and energy savings on their way to becoming resiliency hubs, including Martin Co. Health Department, City of Wayland’s Historic Gym, Hemphill Community Center and HOMES’ office building (both in Letcher County), and the Laurel County African American Heritage Center.
The team also provided expertise to Housing Development Alliance’s Higher Ground houses for flood victims, 10 of which will have solar installations. We issued an RFP, reviewed bids and provided support during the installations. The first five have been completed with the next five in the works. The solar is expected to save homeowners an average of $1,300 per year.
We are also currently working with Floyd County to lead the development of a Community Resilience Hub Plan that is grant-ready, community-driven, and immediately actionable. The plan will identify countywide resilience needs, evaluate and prioritize feasible sites, and provide professional renderings, cost estimates, and funding strategies. By July 2026, Floyd County will have a comprehensive roadmap to secure funding and move toward implementation.
Education and Outreach
To maximize the reach and impact of our capital and technical assistance offerings, staff across the Mountain Association continue extensive outreach to entrepreneurs, local leaders, and industry partners. We also developed a specialized workbook of best practices for businesses to be better prepared for disaster. The content of the 33-page workbook was informed by state statistics and information gathered from outreach to entrepreneurs in the region who have experienced disasters firsthand. For example, the workbook guides readers through succession planning and features templates to help develop emergency response and communication plans for businesses.
To deploy this handbook, we held three in-person workshops in a “Disaster & Estate Planning for Small Businesses” series. The workshops were held in Hazard, London, and Prestonsburg, Kentucky—which have all experienced significant impact from natural disasters in recent years. As part of the workshop series, we featured experts from a regional legal aid organization, Appalred, who provided information on matters related to succession planning. In total, 20 participants attended the sessions, including a business owner in business for 42-years who is actively going through succession planning and will writing; a daughter who is set to inherit a family business who wanted to learn about what that means; and several businesses recently impacted by the tornado and flooding who wanted to get themselves and staff more prepared for the next one.
The Work Continues
In our strategic plan that takes us through year 2030, we have included disaster resiliency and recovery as a key tenant of our work. Because of the existing housing crisis – compounded with natural disasters – we know we need to be stronger supporters of the incredible housing nonprofits in the region. We will continue to use our capital tools to complement their work while also doing intentional outreach to build adjacent industries such as plumbing, carpentry, and electrical services to help counter the long waits and high costs people in our region experience. We will also seek ways to contribute to supportive public policy in these areas.
Though we will sharpen our attention on these sectors, we will continue to provide excellent service and support to the full array of businesses and organizations crucial to a diversified economy, as we have over the last 50 years.
We invite any questions about our resiliency and disaster work to Betsy Whaley at betsy@mtassociation.org, who is also chair of the Central Appalachian Network‘s Resiliency Working Group.
