UK student helping Eastern Kentucky hometown after devastating floods

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — University of Kentucky student Madison Mitchell recalls being here in Lexington waiting to hear from her family when the floods took over her hometown of Leslie County.

“They lost power, they lost water, and they couldn’t reach out to me whatsoever and I was terrified,” Mitchell said.

She adds these floods were worse than the last.

“I posted on Facebook, ‘somebody please let me know that anybody’s okay,’ because I have so much family back home,” she said.

Born and raised in Leslie County, Mitchell says she felt the need to help her community.

“They just support me no matter what, so I know in this time I needed to help support them,” Mitchell said.

So. she went back to Facebook, asking for donations to take home. That’s when she received an email from the University of Kentucky.

“The Office for Student Success said they were emailing everybody who had been impacted in the counties,” she said. “They were saying if you need anything, just please reach out to us and we can help you in any way we can.”\

The university also set up donation drives across campus and is collecting money for those impacted by the deadly floods.

“People here care about you in such a large place,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes it can feel isolated especially being from somewhere where you sound different or think different.”

Mitchell is studying neuroscience and is part of the University of Kentucky’s premed program. She says she eventually wants to return back home.

“Currently, Leslie County has no pediatricians, and I really want to be a pediatrician, hopefully a neurologist,” she said.

For now, she’s doing what she can to spread the word about donations and supporting the people who helped her get where she is today.

If you would like to donate to UK’s eastern Kentucky flood relief, you can visit this website for more information.