Nelson County residents hammered by floodwaters leaning on neighbors for help, rescue

BOSTON, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nearly a week of heavy rain wreaked havoc on Kentucky and southern Indiana, and rural areas of Nelson County have seen some unique challenges from the rising floodwaters.

In Boston — a town halfway between Elizabethtown and Bardstown on US 62 — people had to evacuate their homes and sheltered at Boston School just outside town because of the flood waters.

In total, Nelson County emergency responders made 60 rescues and evacuations between April 4-7. Most of the major roads became impassible because of the flood waters, and Jonathan Curtsinger, who's lived in Boston his whole life, said this week reminds him why he calls it home.

"I've always wondered how people can just pack up, move states, because I couldn't imagine moving towns," he said Tuesday.

Some homes in Boston have been hit harder than others. Nevertheless, it has been a difficult time for people that live in this community. Rescue crews from Georgia and the National Guard were also deployed to help, and it was Curtsinger and the people of Boston who guided them.

"... they didn’t have an idea of where they were going, so we just tried to help them and save time," he said. " ... Just the thing to do."

Floodwaters were so high across some fields and roads in recent days that boats were the only way around. Curtsinger and so many others in Boston knew they couldn't just sit back as others dealt with water creeping into their homes. So he and several others found ways to get their boats in the water and to people's homes to evacuate them.

"I knew our local fire department didn’t have a boat, and there’s a couple of us around here that do that," he said.

And that help also came from the Boston School, which turned the school into a shelter for families and first responders from out of town.

Nelson County Emergency Management services plans to be set up behind the Boston Food Mart Wednesday morning to distribute supplies to families returning home. The hope is the water will recede soon, leaving a main goal of trying and get people back into their homes starting Wednesday.

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