PERRY COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — On Wednesday, the Perry County community came together to take a look at how far they've come after historic flooding in 2022.
The memorial’s designer, Rachel Crawford, said, "We may be divided up by counties, but we're still eastern Kentucky as a whole and we just kind of wanted to give all of those family something to hold onto that. They know that they're loved one’s names is written somewhere and they won't be forgotten."
The memorial was set Monday and unveiled Wednesday paying tribute to 46 lives.
For the past few years communities across eastern Kentucky have been coming together to rebuild and now, everyone's coming out to remember the lives that were lost. Designing this memorial was extra special for Crawford because it's also a personal way of remembering her brother, Aaron Mick Crawford.
She said, "He had the biggest heart of anybody and he loved the lord and he would stop in Walmart and pray for people and I used to get embarrassed a little bit and be like, 'Mick come on, you don't know these people,' and then he would stop and pray for them, and he had the most amazing personality."
18-year-old Aaron Mick Crawford was out helping people impacted by the rising water for days until he passed away from a cardiac event. A special quote on this memorial captures his spirit.
Rachel said, "Down at the bottom, it has the last post that my little brother made on Facebook. He shared a picture of the flood, and he said, 'No matter what trials may come, the sun will rise on us again, Kentucky.'"
It was an emotional day for families and residents who also can’t believe how much time has passed. In the future when people see this memorial Rachel said she wants them to see the hope in this community.
"I want people to look at it and think about where we were and how dark that that was, and I want them to see the buildup that we've done since then in recovery. But I also want them to look at those names and realize that some people they lost a whole lot more than just their homes – and it is a big deal to lose everything you have but it's a whole other deal to lose someone that is everything to you,” said Crawford.
The community wants to add benches to the memorial so that people can come out and reflect. Donations for the benches can be sent to Hazard’s City Hall.
