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Pikeville College, Diary of a Flood, page 8
No full text(PHOTO)
Fred Frederick, Pikeville College basketball star, assist-
ed in nearly every area during the flood.
Editor's Notes ...
by Sara Falls
If recovery depends upon 0ur people, Pikeville College will
recover from the flood with a well-defined sense of humility
and gratit ude for its many blessings.
We expose our inner selves with surprising honesty during
times of ususual stress. The crisis environment is supercharged;
emotions and energies are at peak levels.
One would think that chaos, confusion and argument
would combine with a touch of panic or hysteria to overtake
the actions of those involved.
Not so! At least not in most of the people I observed.
Initial shock and disbelief were quickly replaced by courage,
humor and self-forgetful commitment to meet the needs of
others.
Literally hundreds of people exhibited remarkable energy
and concern. Respect for individual dignity and sensitivity to
the emotions we were encountering seemed to dominate the
responses we gave and received.
Through this newspaper we; have tried to convey the
dynamics of the environment created. by the flood. There are
dozens more stories that could be told; scores of photographs
that might have been captured; hundreds of individuals who
deserve distinct recognition.
For example, Jack Marks waited nearly two days beyond
when other people had cleaned out their salvageables to even
begin trying to save his own belongings. He was developing
pictures for college use, use by area newspapers and assisting
National Guard photographer Jim Evans.
Carolyn Bevins, secretary in the development office,
opened her home and resources to me and my son, Jason.
She and her husband, Eddie, and his parents, Gene and Beth
Bevins, are directly responsible for saving the major portion
of our belongings. They worked 16 to 18 hours a day for
nearly a week washing; scrubbing and cleaning.
Kathe Hall, wife of President Jackson Hall, came forth as a
real trooper. She operated her washer and dryer for anyone
who needed .it. She was also seen digging through the mud
like many others, recovering items that could be cleaned up
and saved. Now she plans to assist in the housing hunt that
those of us who have been flooded out are facing.
Cliff Miller, Jit Ghosal, Larry Darlage and Lois Esham
pooled their knowledge and talents to analyze and hook up
an uncontaminated water -source on Tuesday and Wednesday
following the flood. They used a stream at the top ofPeach
Orchard Hill. Their efforts provided water for Pikeville
Methodist Hospital as well as for the college's disaster center
and cafeteria.
Dorothy and Virgi I Turner, Bill and Melissa Higginbotham,
Roger Chambers, Mark and Kathy Sohn, Dick and Diane
Jackson, Bessie Thornbury and countless others not
personally affected by the floodwaters assisted many of us
who were. The ability to thank all of these people adequately
is impossible.
A special thanks at this point goes to the fine folks at
Morehead State University. With the permission of President
Morris Norfleet and the encouragement of Public
Information Director Keith Kappes, staff members Mary
Bragg, Bonnie Burns and Shirley Rohr enabled us to produce
this ·newspaper as their contribution to meeting our
immediate needs.
With sufficient financial support, Pikeville College can
recover from this materially.
We will recover emotionally and spiritually. In this
respect, we haven't lost; we have actually gained. Our greatest
living, sharing and giving of ten comes through sorrow, pain
and trouble.
We are all better people now; our priorities have been
challenged; our sensitivity to real human needs has been
deepened; the quality of our lives is more meaningful.
We hope we have realistically and successfully shared some
of what we have experienced with you. We invite your
comments, support and involvement with us in Pikeville
College's continued growth and development.
FREDERICK-A Man of Action
By Sandra M. Branam
The disastrous flood that hit
Pikeville the evening of April 4th
caught senior center Fred
Frederick and the rest of the
Pikeville College basketball team
off guard in a meeting with head
coach Wayne Martin. The
meeting broke up quickly when
a member of the· team found
river water lapping at the
hubcaps of his car parked behind
the gym. Fred and the other
members of the team returned
to the dorms to change clothes '
and spread out in town to assist
in rescue efforts.
Fred went with other
students from house to house
helping move fu rniture and coax
elderly peopie from their endangered
homes. He worked
until he was numb from the cold
water and it came swirling up
around his high waist about 1
a.m.
Many Pikeville College
students worked tirelessly
through the flood night, but
some students who were worried
about and needed by their own
families left as soon as they
could get away. Fred was one of
the student volunteers who
stayed.
Like most people, Fred
worked wherever he could help.
Fred cannot remember how he
got there, but 6 a.m. Tuesday
found him in the Bear's Den,
which had a separate power
source that remained intact,
beating up over 30 dozen eggs
at a time. That day, Fred
assisted in cooking for about
1,500 people and servirig
patients from the Mountain
Manor Nursing Home. He kept
up with the cooks until they
shut down at 1:30 a.m.
Wednesday.
The next morning Fred was
back on the job, going from 7
a.m. Wednesday until 1 a.m.
Thursday. He was back at his
station at 5 a.m. Thursday until
disaster center director Roger
Keller asked if he would help
with the children.
The gangly basketball player
attracts kids like the Pied Piper.
Fred is an elementary education
major, so it was no wonder that
he was taken from kitchen detail
to caring for and entertaining a
large group of children. He
helped children express their
feelings about the flood by
getting them to paint pictures
about it. The children were kept
occupied by Fred, Mary Ann
Ghosal, and other members of
the education department until
11 p.m. Thursday.
Fred is a man of action and
whenever there were enough
volunteers to care for them he
would take a break and go help
somewhere else. During such a
break, he met Mayor W. C.
Hambley on the street and
helped him sweep mud and
water f rom the sidewalk.
Fred pulled furniture from
the devastated new faculty
apartment buildings, shoveled
mud out of one· house after
another and when he heard that
Millard Grade School (where he
had been student teaching) had
been inundated with water, he
set out on foot to help. After
working at Millard for three
hours, Fred returned to the
Pikeville College disaster center
where he helped unload trucks
bringing in supp!ies. He went
with a member of the administration
to take food to faculty
member Rediford Damron who
lives out in the county.
Damron's home was covered by
the flood waters. Damron had
planned to retire this spring.
Someone asked Fred when he
was going home. "I can be of
help here, why should I go
home? At home all I could do
would be to sit around and
enjoy myself," the Cincinnati
native said.
A week into the cleanup,
Fred came down with a fever
after a hard day of shoveling
mud. He had agreed to help out
with some disaster fund-raising
projects and apologized over and
over again for being sick and
going to bed. After a few hours
in bed, Fred was up again and
on the move lending a helping
hand .
Tuesday, April 12, Fred was
working with a faculty family
cleaning their basement when
they took a few minutes break
to go look at the damaged gym.
Fred blinked when he looked
Once again at the gym where he
and the team had won so much
glory for Pikeville College. The
floor had curled up and buckled
and the bleachers in the student
cheering section had shifted forward
away from the wall about
4 feet. "It's ruined. We'd better
get back to work," Fred said
softly, turning away from the
old gym
Pikeville College, Diary of a Flood, page 5
No full textView through the liv ing room of
apartment in the new two-building
complex; mud remained as thick as six
inches in some areas.
(PHOTO)
Photo by Jack Marks
(PHOTO)
Photo by Jack Marks
Water lifted this late model Monte Carlo
onto one of the concrete posts outside
college tennis courts.
(PHOTO)
Photo by Jack Marks
Heavy equipment was required to remove
debris and unsalvageable belongings from
streets, yards and parking lots.
(PHOTO)
Photo by Jack Marks
Piano of music faculty member Bill
McCloud appears in rubble outside his
Park Street home.
(PHOTO)
Photo by Bill Higginbotha
Pikeville College, Diary of a Flood, page 6
No full text(PHOTO)
Moving: A Race Against Time
By this time of year Bill
Peacock thought he'd be
working on flower beds to
brighten up the grounds at
Pikeville College. As new
director of physical plant he
came from Berea in February to
undertake the massive challenge
of supervising the maintenance,
renovation and restoration of
buildings and grounds that have
suffered from years of use by
students and employees.
Like many people new to the
area, Peacock had never seen a
flood. He remembers Monday,
April 4,vividly.
"Dick and I were in the office
discussing budgets. Lumpy came
in and said 'Are you watching
the river?' I told him no . He said
I'd better get in touch with
F ishtrap and find out
something."
It took Peacock fifteen
minutes to get Fishtrap on the
phone. The lady who answered
the phone told him the watt;r
was five feet below floodstage
and rising 2.6 feet an hour.
"When she said that to me," his
eyes widened, "That automatically
told me we were gonna
have a flood. She assured me,
however, that they were holding
water at the dam. This was
about 4 :30."
Peacock went into non-stop
action to move furnishings out
of t he bottom floor of the two
building Bank Street complex
that housed college employees as
well as townspeople.
The college's maintenance
crew is understaffed at six men.
They cleared the front building
and moved to the back. Some
people weren't home and they
hesitated about moving their
things. There was no place to·go
but to the apartments upstairs
and some of th0se people
weren't home.
"There was no official
warning. It was a matter of
minutes, not hours," Peacock
gazed regretfully. "Too many
people trusted the dams. There
was a shortage of vehicles, a
shortage of space !o put
furniture and an extreme
shortage of time."
The back building was more
complicated than the front due
to the fact that the wooden
forms for concrete steps and
walkway between the two
buildings had been set up, but
the concrete had not been
poured. "That's terrible when
you're trying to move heavy
furniture," Peacock pointed out.
When all the heavy furniture
was upstairs and the race against
time was being won by the
water, Peacock ordered the
building evacuated. He was the
last one to leave, staying on to
make sure everyone else was
gOne. He then moved to the Park
Street area, discovering that
everyone seemed to be moving
fairly well except the people in
homes across from the college
gym. They were still deciding
whether or not to move.
Little did he realize, or even
take time to think, that his
troubles were only beginning.
Like dozens of other college
employees, Peacock's personal
possessions were covered by
muddy waters. A good part of
the physical plant that he was
hired to direct is devastated.
And he has six men , two pickup
trucks and thousands of hours of
cleaning, repairing, and rebuilding
ahead of him.
"Where we have tenants who
want to re-occupy, we're going
to assist them in getting back in.
Where we do not have tenants
who can or want to move back
in, we haven't even started on
those places."
What are Peacock's - and
Pikeville College's - plans for
the buildings hit by the flood?
"All this depends on funds that
are raised," he explained. "We
can repair, rebuild or patch
when funds are available. No
definite plans can be made;
We're just cleaning up right
now."
As all people who have been
affected by the · flood know,
cleaning up is a very objectionable
job. Peacock said his crew
has responded well to a distasteful
ass ignment. Only one of the
six, besides Peacock himself, had
water in his home. Yet they are
all working to restore the
riverbank property to some
semblance of what it was before.
People came from outside (from page 3)
Tuesday morning about 5
o'clock the river crested at 51.9
feet. After daylight we were
anxious to see just how high the
water had reached and like
everyone else, we joined the
crowds· walking along the river
overlooking Pikeville. The sky
glowed and the wind was raw.
People talked, but in quiet, awed
tones . It suddenly started raining
and we ducked into the Catholic
Church. By this time we had all
gotten a chance to look at our
houses. The water had risen five
feet on our first floor, which
meant eight to ten feet for most
people, as our house sat higher
than other dwellings in the area
hit by water.
When telephone communication
resumed in the city, it was
only partial. We could receive
incoming calls by Wednesday, but
couldn't call out. That was the
job of the shortwave crew and
the C. B. operated by Pikeville
College student Steve Collier.
From Monday through Friday
two to three thousand calls and
messages were handled by the
two units. The people at the
college disaster center found
they had an amazing capacity to
stay awake and come back after
only a few hours of sleep.
Debbie Justice, a Pikeville
College student working at the
message center and food
distribution center, went from
Monday to Friday with littl~
more than ten hours of sleep.
Joyce Robinson, from the
ARA Food Service, cut off from
her home on Robinson Creek,
could be seen at every meal
climbing up and down steps,
carrying heavy steel trays with
steaming hot food for the
nursing home patients. She had
had six hours of sleep from
Sunday night until Friday
morning.
Dean Tolzman, manager of
the college food services, worked
with Joyce, using college
cafeteria food until Wednesday
when it ran out. At that point,
they began using surplus food
that had been shipped in to the
center.
Ken Thornbury, a student
and resident of Pike County who
knows the county probably as
well as anyone, ran all over the
county on rescue missions as
calls for help came in. He
delivered supplies to people who
were in need and transported
others to the center . No sooner
would he lie down than another
call would come for his help and
he was on the road again.
Tulessa Fraley, a beautician
with her shop in Mullins,
volunteered her time at the
center working round the clock
helping Lou Egger.
John Bray and 53-year-old
Denver Matney worked non-stop
for fifteen hours at the ham
radio while Dixie Wehrheim
massaged his neck musdes to
keep them from bunching.
(PHOTO)
Perhaps they will soon have
the dry, cracked mud cleaned
off the tennis courts. By that
time Peacock can get back to
thinking about flower beds.
By Wednesday, the children
at the center were getting
restless and a spot was set up
and manned by students and
teachers from the Education
Department to occupy the little
ones. Mary Ann Ghosal of
Pikeville College's Teacher Corps
program was instrumental in
helping care for the children and
plan creative activities to occupy
their time.
Pat Donehoo came in from
the Episcopal Church working to
get vital medical and food
supplies brought in by helicopter
while Judi Miller, a Registered
Nurse married to a professor at
the college, coordinated the
medical supply list from the
center, the nursing home and the
Methodist Hospital. The
helicopter arrived the next
morning and Judi grabbed the
first pilot to touch down, kissing
him in relief.
The problems the center
faced with sanitation were
enormous. When the water went
off there was no way to flush
toilets. It became mandatory to
go down to the flood water with
trash baskets and collect the
contaminated water for flushing
purposes. Students manned the
trash baskets and many like Paul
Rader volunteered to clean
bathrooms and remove mounds
of trash.
Wednesday morning we went
back to our homes as the water
receded. I had tried to picture
what the house would look like
when we opened the door for
the first time. I was surprised
that there was less mud on the
walls than I expected, even
though the paint was peeling and
blistering. There was a three inch
coating of mud on the floor and
heavy furniture looked as if it
had been heaved by an angry
giant. The kitchen was the
biggest problem, with our new
refrigerator, stove and washer
and dryer - thrown about. The
doors were sprung open on the
refrigerator and food was lying
everywhere. It was fascinating to
see what the water had done to
the pinto beans. They were
swelling and bursting the bag as I
held them in my hand. A
twenty-five pound bag of selfrising
flour had split open and
turned into paste.
Most of Wednesday was spent
shoveling out mud. The day was
cold and damp with intermittent
snow flurries. The mud was
freezing and the sneakers I was
wearing offered no protection.
After several hours of work I
could not feel my toes and we
decided to go to town for boots,
if anything was open.
Anderson's Department Store on
Second Street was devastated,
but Ed L. Anderson was
standing amidst the ruin
wringing out shirts and shaking
his head. "In 1957, the Army
Corps of Engineers gave us a
day's warning. This time there
was nothing and I lost a lot
more," he commented. We
bought some of his last boots
and went back to slinging mud
at our house.
That night we were invited to
supper by the Higgenbothams
and Turners, employees at the
college . They were having a
non-stop open house for
employees and their families hit
by the flood. It was a welcomed
break and I went to sleep sitting
straight up, wondering if perhaps
tomorrow I was going to finish
shoveling mud outside the
kitchen in time to start on the
six inches of mud and piles of
junk in the cellar.
Maybe the wild flowers can
be saved after all and perhaps
Eastern Kentucky, Pikeville
College and my family will
return to normal.
Tolzman
Feeds 2,000
During times of crisis, those
of us who enjoy observing others
find an interesting array of react
ions to ponder upon.
Among the many pleasant
observations during the days
after THE FLOOD has been the
privilege of watching Dean
Tolzman, Joyce Robinson,
Clayton "Sarge" May and the
other ARA Food Services
Company personnel. ARA runs
the cafeteria, Bear's Den grill
and vending machines for
Pikeville College. Tolzman
manages the operation.
Under normal circumstances
Tolzman provides three meals a
day, seven days a week for 230
Pikeville College resident
students, about fifty daily
lunches for college employees
and an average of one catered
special meal a week for church
or civic organizations.
(see page 7
Pikeville College, Diary of a Flood, page 1
No full textPikeville College
Diary of a Flood
A Publication of Pikeville College
Pikeville, Kentucky 40501
April, 1977
Since 1889, the influence of Pikeville
College has reached into the lives of
families and individuals now digging out
from under the muddy floodwaters of the
Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River,
whose banks overflowed Monday night,
Apri l 4, spilling over 51 feet of devastation
into Pike County.
The warm sun, 'tempered by a brisk
wind, is now settling in on hundreds of
students and employees . of Pikeville
College as they begin putting back
together their homes, classrooms and
lives.
Official estimates of the amount of
money that Pikeville College will have to
raise in order to get back to where it was
on Monday morning, April 4, before the
flood changed everything, are now over
300,000," President
Jackson 0. Hall sad ly commented. Hall
and Vice President for Development Bill
Higginbotham are t rave ling to Detro it,
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington,
New York, Charlottesvi lle, Richmond,
Lexington and Louisville to seek
immediate assistance.
The personal possessions of college
employees and students who have been
displaced from their homes - many of
whom have devoted countless hours staffing
the emergency re lief centers as well as
salvaging their belongings - a re conser
vative ly estimated at 300,000.
Compounding an already bleak
financial situation is the fact that
Pikeville College relies heavily on gift
support from the region. Annual giving
had been projected at a level of 200,000, and the lingering
effect will no doubt severely hamper local
fund raising efforts next year. The
business people and ind iv iduals who
normally support Pikeville College in
many cases are the same people who are
digging themselves out of this disaster.
Ramifications reach even further.
There could be a decline in enrollment.
Current students and other young men
and women who otherwise would have
come to Pikeville College will need to
seek employment to offset the cost of
replacing their homes and belongings. It's
difficult to assess what that might mean
in loss of tuition and room and board,
but it could conceivably run as high as
another $250,000 next year.
Jack Marks, Director of Alumni
Affairs, looked down shaking his head.
"If anyone anywhere not affected by this
tragedy ever thought of helping Pikeville
College, I hope it will be now." Marks
lost his personal belongings; he and his
wife had moved into the new college
apartments the first of March. He's back
at work, trying to do what he can to get
the college back in operating order. "The
college needed me to come back to
work," he said. "Everyone else is in the
same shape I'm in; we're all doing the
best we can. I just hope that depression
and frustration doesn't set in."
The future of Pikeville College
depends on the spirit of people who work
there like Jack Marks. And it depends on
immediate financial relief from
individuals, foundations and corporations
outside the floodstricken area who come
to the aid of this small, but vital,
Appalachian college.
Coming Events
May 7 Alumni Banquet
May 8 Commencement
Summer Terms
May 9-27 MiniMester
June 6-July 28 Session I
July 11-August 12 Session II
June 6-August 5 Evening Session
Morehead
Graduate Classes
May 16 Intersession
June 6 Summer I
July 5 Summer I
Pikeville College, Diary of a Flood, page 2
No full textPikeville College
Pikeville, Kentucky 41501 606-432-3161
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
April 25, 1977
Dear Alumni and Friends of Pikeville College:
As most of you know, on April 4, 1977, the worst flood in the history of our region was unleashed on Eastern Kentucky. Thousands were left homeless and Pikeville College suffered damages estimated at $1.5 million. Included in this were many faculty and staff apartments and homes owned by the college, including a brand new apartment complex that had been occupied for less than a month.
The gymnasium suffered complete destruction on the inside and will need to be entirely renovated.
Many of our faculty and staff, who were residing in college housing, lost all of their personal possessions. Warning in advance of the potential disaster did not occur, such that our employees were unable to save any of their belongings - clothes, furniture, books, appliances, and all else. Two of the members of our music faculty lost valuable pianos.
The psychological strain associated with this type of loss, as well as the ability of the college to repair the damages to property and, therefore, bring the college back into normal operating conditions, cannot be overstated.
The very future of Pikeville College has been threatened by this disaster. Our ability to function effectively with in large measure be determined by our success in attracting support from as many directions as possible. we are already hard at work contacting corporations, foundations and individuals, as well as exploring avenues of relief through the federal and state agencies. We have received a most sympathetic and encouraging response from the Presbyterian Church, and I feel confident that both short-term and long-term support will be forthcoming from that direction.
It is, nevertheless, essential that we direct this personal appeal to all of you who have had a relationship with the college in the past and who recognize the importance of the mission of Pikeville College to the educational needs of the men and wimen of this region.
We urgently need your support in order to enable the college to continue to function. I hope that you will find the needs of Pikeville College something to which you will be able to respond, as our successful future is now in jeopardy because of this totally unexpected disaster.
May God bless you! I thank you for any support that you may be able to direct toward the college in our time of need.
Sincerely yours,
Jackson O. Hall
President
Also...
You might be interested to know that during the imjmediate aftermath of the flood, Pikeville College became the first emergency disaster relief center.
Our Armington Science-Learning Center housed residents from the Mountain Manor Nursing Home, which was totally deluged with water, in addition to hundreds of others rendered homeless. Our cafeteria prepared over 2,000 meals a day, and we became a center for the distribution of clothing, food, pure water, and toxins for typhoid, tetanus and diphtheria shots.
Our students, faculty and staff worked countless hours serving the human needs of the people affected by the flood. the role of these people was herculean, and it represented one of the finest forms of Christian respones to the needs of humanity that could possibly be described
Estella and Friend
No full textThe back of the image says: "Estella and Friend 1942-1943 -- Wallace (Herbert Hensley's Mom). A label on the back says: "Estella Hensley -- Herbert S. Hensley II -- PO Box 132 -- Majestic, KY 41547-0132