On the morning of July 28, 2022, Nathan Day was helping his son get ready for work when he got a message from a neighbor asking for help to save her grandchildren. Nathan, who lived on a hill in Eastern Kentucky, went outside to see what was happening. “I didn’t know what they were talking about, then I went outside. You could hear a lot of people screaming and asking for help,” he said.
Nathan and his wife, Krystal, didn’t have a boat, so they waded into the water in the dark morning. The water was over their heads, but they managed to rescue two mothers and five children. “At 3 o’clock in the morning, I was in that water with my wife. I had one child under each arm and one around my neck, carrying them back to our house. The oldest child was holding a small dog,” Nathan said.
Then Nathan realized that two of his former teachers might also be in danger. “I kept pacing back and forth because I saw the water rising and I knew my two former teachers were probably trapped in their homes,” he said. “It was heartbreaking.” With help from three neighbors, they managed to rescue both of them. One of the teachers had spent the night sitting on her kitchen counter.
The whole community came together to help. “I’ve seen so many people saving others. I’ve seen so many people feeding people. These folks have lost their homes, cars, and everything in just a few hours,” Nathan said.