‘Just imagine if you were having to camp out because you had nothing,’ W’burg mayor notes

“Buddy, I lost my town,” was the response Hindman Mayor Tracy Neice had to his friend, Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison, when Harrison called to check on him after the floods.

“They were saying just imagine if you were having to camp out because you had nothing, then how would you survive,” Harrison noted.

Harrison said he decided to concentrate Williamsburg’s disaster relief efforts on the City of Hindman because he knew some other efforts were going to other areas and because he is personal friends with Neice. Both sit on the Kentucky League of Cities Board of Directors.

On Saturday, Williamsburg and Whitley County residents did what they could to help Hindman families by sending a 26-foot long U-Haul loaded with supplies to the small town Knott County town. While the trailer wasn’t completely full, it was well loaded down with supplies.

“We basically had a hodgepodge,” said Harrison. “I asked people on Facebook to lean towards industrial cleaning supplies as much as possible, and things they could use, especially can openers, pots and pans.”

In addition, Williamsburg also sent buckets, brooms, mops, shovels, squeegees, food, gallon jugs of water, long liters and bottled water.

“We sent anything and everything we could think of,” Harrison added. “Whatever was brought to us or we could find in town we sent.”

Among other items, Williamsburg also sent some female hygiene products to Hindman after Neice’s wife, Lisa Neice, noted that many women were either having to walk, wade or swim through bacteria filled water.

Harrison said that one lesson Tracy Neice told him he learned from sending relief supplies to Western Kentucky after the 2021 tornadoes was the value of sending gift cards for victims to use.

The Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Commission helped purchase $2,000 worth of Visa or Mastercard gift cards, which were also delivered Saturday afternoon.

Harrison noted that there are a lot of people, who are using such gift cards to purchase medicine, which they lost during the flooding.

Harrison thanked Williamsburg residents for their efforts, including many, who said that they didn’t want recognition but instead just wanted to help.

“You always know what kind of people your area has and the big hearts that they have, but you especially get to see it when there is a tragedy like this. I want to tell everybody thank you for just stepping up and caring,” Harrison added.

“I also want to thank all the other organizations that took supplies to Eastern Kentucky flood victims as well.”