Kentucky flooding survivor saved her two kids with a vacuum cord



















In the remote holler of Bowling Creek in Kentucky’s Appalachian region, Jessica Willett tied herself to her two kids as floodwaters overwhelmed their home. They survived, but now face a daunting future.

BOWLING CREEK, Ky. – As roaring floodwaters rose around her, Jessica Willett cut an electric cord off a vacuum cleaner and bound herself to her two children. 

Willett, 34, heard loud pops and cracks as the force of the deluge fractured her manufactured home perched on Bowling Creek, a remote and steep-sided Kentucky holler. The floor bowed and water poured in. Her car parked outside was swept away.