The people of Johnson County have been through a lot lately. Many people are still going through a lot.
From ice storms to torrential rain leading to power outages and more, it’s been a tough few weeks.
And it’s going to take time to recover. The good in all this is that we’re seeing examples everywhere of people doing the right things for their neighbors.
Just one example of that is Paintsville First United Methodist Church’s drive to collect “flood buckets” full of items needed to clean up after a flood for local residents. That’s just one example of many out there of what’s happening behind the scenes to keep people going.
The list of those who kept working, kept volunteering and saved lives and properties over the past few days would be too long to print.
And we’re going to need to keep that going in coming days because, even after the flood waters recede, their impacts will continue to be felt, as roads are rebuilt, homes are repaired and the true extent of the damage becomes clear.
There will be efforts to gain and properly expend funding from state and federal sources. There will be efforts to remake what was lost.
We’re definitely in a long-haul event.
The good news is that very same spirit that has inspired so many to help their fellow man is the same spirit that will help Johnson County recover and become renewed. We will have to be resilient and we will have to be patient, but we will have to be persistent. We have a lot of work to get through, but we can do so much more effectively by working together.
It’s been a long, difficult winter. But spring is coming, and with it, renewal and rebirth. This community will recover. It will be renewed.
