By Tony McVeigh
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-900665.mp3
Frankfort, KY – Kentucky's capital city was spared loss of life and major damage in this week's record flood. But as Tony McVeigh of Kentucky Public Radio reports, coping with floods is just a way of life for some Frankfort residents.
The pressure washers are coming out along Paul Sawyer Drive. The quiet, tree-lined street sits on a shady bend of the usually sedate Kentucky River. But this week, following two days of unrelenting rain, the river roared to life - cresting at almost 12 feet above flood stage. There were no flood-related deaths or injuries in Frankfort, but numerous homes not protected by the city's floodwall - like those along Paul Sawyer Drive - took on water.
"I'm Clara Smith, and if you want to live on the river, you gotta know what you're getting into and the only thing I can tell you is, when the flood goes by, it's a good time to redecorate."
Clara was in her backyard, drying out household items pulled from her basement, and keeping a close eye on the receding river.
"Now, you knew when you bought the piece of property that it was gonna flood, didn't you?" asked McVeigh.
"Oh, sure!" replied Smith. "I bought this property in 1997 - February the 15th - and moved out March 1st, '97 for the first flood."
"Really, so you're used to this," said McVeigh.
"I'm used to this," replied Smith.
"There's nothing like it anywhere else. We could live anywhere. We choose to be here."
That's Pat Greer, who lives across the street from Clara. Her impressive, 72-year old limestone home sits right on the riverbank. Her patio's still underwater, but she and her husband Michael are taking events in stride. They, too, have been through this before, and say the pleasures of river life far outweigh the challenges.
"You know, I watch the sun - my office is on the back, on the top floor and my desk is a platform that pushes up against the window - and I watch the sun come up over the Kentucky River every morning of my life, and thank God for being here," said Greer.
Pat says the key to river life is being prepared, knowing what's coming, and having a plan.
"We know what needs to be done, when it needs to be done," said Greer. "And NOAA - the NOAA website - is the best thing that ever happened, as far as knowing what to do and how much time you have to do it. And it's just a matter of - you make a plan, you run your plan."
That wasn't the case for Sheila White, one block over. She's never been through a flood, and wasn't as well prepared for what was coming. As she surveyed her water-filled garage, she wasn't as relaxed as the Greer's, but she wasn't ready to throw in the towel, either.
"I love my house, and I love living down here and being a part of this community," said White. "Ask me in about two days when I really start scraping mud off, but it's something I knew when I moved down here. Just part of being on the river."
Derron Rambo, Frankfort's Emergency Management director, has a lot of respect for river folk. He says the river life isn't for everyone, but those who choose to live it tend to be hardy souls who know how to roll with the punches.
"I think people who live on the river have a very good understanding of the river," said Rambo. "A lot of them have lived there for years. They understand at what point they need to stay and at what point they need to go. For some of them it is a nuisance, but it's just the price they pay because they love the river the rest of the year."
But even as the flood waters recede along Paul Sawyer Drive, the drying out begins, and the relaxing rhythm of river life returns, history shows the respite may be brief. Record-setting Kentucky River floods may be on the rise.
The worst flood in Frankfort history was in 1978, 41 years after the second worst, the Great Flood of 1937. But the capital city's next three record-setters occurred in 1989, 1997 and this week.