BELLEVUE, Ky. – After floodwaters rose several feet on Covert Run Pike this week, neighbors spent Sunday helping each other clean up and recover.
Local business owners also pitched in. They organized a cookout for the flood victims, donating food, money and time.
“Yesterday I had a crazy idea, a last minute thing, spur of the moment,” Avenue Brew owner Larry Brondhaver said. “I went door to door with businesses and told them what I wanted to do, and they all got on board with me.”
Brondhaver said one side of the street “was brutalized.”
“People woke up in their basements with their beds and water all around them,” he said.
For Xiao Ying Sebastian, the refreshments meant a lot.
“Everything in the basement, we lost it,” she said. “[We’re] trying to restore everything we have: furnace, water heater, washer, dryer. We haven’t had air or hot water for three days.”
Andy Schreiber said residents had been working to clean up for days.
“They’ve been going through a lot of anguish and heartache, but I think the neighborhood’s coming together,” he said.
Barbara Kandt, who lives up the hill, offered an extra washer and dryer for anyone who might need it.
Neighbors said the flood couldn’t wash away the feeling of community.
“The message and the people are what’s important, and it’s resonating with people up and down the street,” Schreiber said.
The businesses that contributed include:
Ball Embroidery
Witt’s Candy
Cozy Cottage
Irish Leather Works
Bella on The Avenue
Frame and Hang Studio Gallery
Lynsey – Citizen
Twisted Sisters
New Look
Jo Ann Hair Salon
Schneider’s Sweet Shop
Torn Light Records
Interior Visions
Purple Monkey/LaSorelle
Splendid Things
Mama C’s
Darkness Brewery
Kroger
Avenue Brew
