As floodwaters recede in rural Eastern Kentucky, residents are taking stock of the devastation. The floods, made worse by climate change, stretched across seven counties, killing 37 people. Hundreds are in government-run shelters. Food, water and medicine need to get to remote areas, and people have been displaced from an area with few houses and not much flat land for building new ones. NPR's Laura Benshoff reports that the floods have also interrupted efforts to rebuild the post-coal economy in Central Appalachia.

LAURA BENSHOFF, BYLINE: It was just over a week ago that Brian Lucas evacuated his wife, two kids, dog and cat from their mobile home as the water from the small creek in front of their house turned into a roaring river. And right now he needs a break from dealing with the aftermath.

BRIAN LUCAS: Yes, this is what they call Pine Mountain.

BENSHOFF: Why did you want to show this to us?

LUCAS: This is the reason why we're here. I mean, this is the beautiful mountains. You know, you don't see below right now the flood and disaster.

BENSHOFF: All you can see is a carpet of lush green peaks up here. But down the mountain in rural Isom, Ky., the only home his kids have ever known is a total loss. Lucas and his family have been staying with his in-laws just across the street and a few miles from where he grew up.

LUCAS: Yeah. You know, that's the thing about eastern Kentucky. It's family, and family is a big thing here. And so you have families that live close to each other and have lived close to each other their whole lives, you know?

BENSHOFF: That priority defines the region for many even as it's undergone huge changes. Where coal used to be king, the largest employer in much of eastern Kentucky is now the hospital system. Lucas' father was a coal truck driver who got laid off, so he became a nurse there, and now Lucas manages medical equipment for the same company. He says another thing that defines this area is a sense that no one from the outside is going to come in and save them.

LUCAS: We went today and actually got a haircut, and somebody said, well, why would you want to go get a haircut? Because it's a normal thing. That's a small business. If you're not spending money, that small business who got hit by the flood, too - guess what? They don't exist anymore.

BENSHOFF: He and many others here use one word over and over when describing residents. That word is resilient. But Betsy Whaley with the Mountain Association, a nonprofit that does economic development work, says that comes from living through more than your fair share of hardship.

BETSY WHALEY: I mean, it's like one of those things that you say to people who've been kicked a lot. Oh, they're gritty. They can take it. And nobody wants to, right? Nobody wants to need grit.

BENSHOFF: She says the coal bust caused mass layoffs, and many people pulled up stakes and moved away. Now she's worried that climate change, which makes inland flooding like this worse, is creating another challenge for the region. Groups like Whaley's have been trying to revitalize and diversify the economy to create jobs in post-coal Appalachia.

WHALEY: A lot of wealth has been exported from this region. And so we've been supporting small businesses with lending business support, helping communities organize themselves and try to take back power and make sure that wealth stays local.

BENSHOFF: Now, she says, some painstaking efforts to build up small businesses have literally washed away overnight. She gives the example of a local woman who owns a grocery store and spent the last 10 years upgrading it.

WHALEY: New lighting, new HVAC, new coolers, you know, that are energy-efficient. She just put solar on the building. She had six feet of water in there. It's a total loss. Where her store is is a food desert.

BENSHOFF: Another major institution, the schools, have also suffered. During a recent meeting with the Kentucky Department of Education, Letcher County School Superintendent Denise Yonts says six schools were damaged, and there's been a more tragic toll.

DENISE YONTS: Unfortunately, we lost two staff members. Our community as a whole is devastated (crying).

BENSHOFF: The fall semester is being pushed back across the region as districts scramble to find enough undamaged space for students. One challenge is just how spread out the communities here are. Going to a different school might mean going over a mountain to a different county. Another is that about a quarter of people in the flooded area live below the poverty line, and Perry County Superintendent Jonathan Jett says many of his district's poorest families were the hardest-hit.

JONATHAN JETT: They lived in trailers that were 50 years old, homes that were 80 or 100 years old. They've never had a mortgage payment. They've never had homeowner's insurance. So if they do rebuild, FEMA's probably not going to cover all of that.

BENSHOFF: He says he worries that this disaster could be the final straw for many who've lived here for generations.

JETT: And I'm really concerned that we may lose people from our communities because I think people - if they leave here, they're never coming back.

BENSHOFF: These are long-term concerns. Right now there are more immediate problems - getting clean water, finding a place to live, getting the mud and mold out of homes and businesses.

DOUG NASALROAD: I'll probably have to take this upstairs to the bathtub.

BENSHOFF: In Hindman, Ky., where the downtown flooded, Doug Nasalroad stands in the storefront that houses his stringed instrument building school. He runs the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company, named for the brook that runs through town. He picks up a dulcimer.

NASALROAD: This one was fished out of the floodwaters at Troublesome Creek. You know, this one is probably still playable (playing dulcimer) - almost in tune.

BENSHOFF: It's the same creek that deposited the fine brown mud coating mandolins, guitars and expensive woodworking equipment, the same creek that makes it hard to think about rebuilding right now.

NASALROAD: I love the people of Hindman. I love my guys. I hate that creek (laughter). I hate that creek.

BENSHOFF: Nasalroad's school is also a social enterprise. He trains people coming from drug court or local recovery centers to craft high-quality instruments. Some wind up working at the company's factory. Nasalroad says this has upended their lives, too.

NASALROAD: I have some people who are having extreme psychological distress. And, you know, for people in recovery, this is not a good thing.

BENSHOFF: Even though the first order of business is mucking out the building and lots of Lysol, Nasalroad is already thinking about ways to spin what's happened into a new opportunity. Maybe they'll make a special run of dulcimers from the wood that survived the flood.

NASALROAD: We'll find something for them to do. I'm thinking rebuilding the factory would be good. We're going to take care of them come hell or high water - ain't a joke. It's low-hanging fruit, I guess, but that's the truth - hell or high water.

BENSHOFF: He says it reminds him of a song he wrote many years ago that feels oh so timely.

NASALROAD: (Singing) A bad break when you're broke is just another dirty joke. It ain't funny, but blame sure ain't right.

BENSHOFF: Laura Benshoff, NPR News, Hazard, Ky.

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