Belinda Asher was sleeping in her eastern Kentucky home when she was abruptly awoken a little after 1 a.m. Thursday by a flash flood alert on her phone.
“By 2 a.m., everything I had was completely underwater,” Asher, 37, told CNN.
At least eight people died and “hundreds will lose” their homes following heavy overnight rains and widespread flooding across eastern Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday.
Asher, her husband and three children live on the line dividing Breathitt and Perry counties. She said their three-bedroom home was completely wiped away by the floods.
“I have no plan, I don’t know, how do you start from zero?” Asher said.
She had lived in that home for roughly seven years, and in the area all her life, she told CNN. “The whole thing is just gone. I think I saw my porch in the creek when we were leaving, and I saw a part of the door frame,” Asher said.
Her brother’s home is also gone. She said she knows at least 10 to 15 other families who also lost everything.
“Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Asher said.
Asher said that when the water first started rising overnight, the family went to their barn to save the animals inside and were able to get their horses out. Asher said she managed to save her dogs but is still missing a cat that she hopes will turn up in the coming days.
Asher and her family are now staying with her brother-in-law in the nearby city of Hazard. She says she’s thankful to have made it out alive with her family and pets, and credits the flash flood alert for saving their lives.
A verified GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support her family.
CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report.
