This week on Inside Appalachia, we look back at some of the stories we told in 2022. We took you to the floods in eastern Kentucky, where you met people who witnessed terrible destruction. We also invited you along as we talked to Appalachians who know a little something about resilience, like Dolly Parton. Because you invited us into your homes, we invited you into ours with a special trip to Mason’s hometown Floyd, Virginia.
Last December, tornadoes ripped through our region, killing almost a hundred people and leaving many more without homes.Thousands of people applied for federal assistance but the government denied most of them. This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear from residents in Kentucky who were denied aid. We’ll also hear a special documentary about the Buffalo Creek Flood of 1972, one of the worst catastrophes in U.S. history. Fifty years later, what do people remember? How is that disaster inspiring a new generation to take better care of the land and water? We’ll also learn about West Virginia’s first, and only, curling club, and meet a woman in the small town of Helvetia, West Virginia who’s reviving her family’s tradition of making swiss cheese.
Helvetia is a rural town nestled close to the Monongahela National Forest, and like Thrayron Morgan, most of its residents can trace their heritage back to Switzerland.
‘The people of New Bern liked the fact my ancestor founded their town. But the atmosphere changed when they realised I was there to show reality, not promote a touristy vision’