DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (WTVF) — Recovery begins in Dawson Springs, Kentucky as residents grieve lives lost and destruction of their city. Symbols of hope are motivating a community.
“My husband and my daughter live here," said Ginny Watts of Dawson Springs, motioning to her home. "[My daughter's] four. We just had her birthday party two hours before that happened.”
Watts hoped a room in her home would be where her little girl would grow up. Early Saturday morning, her daughter, Cavvy, wasn’t in there. She was in the basement, covered by a baby mattress with her cousins in the protective arms of her mom.
“All of a sudden, it got quiet, and you could hear this tremendous roar," said Watts. "The next thing you know the house is being ripped away. Popping. Cracking. The girls are screaming. My nephew’s screaming. I was praying, 'dear God, let us make it through this. Let us get out of this safe,' and he did. He did.”
Watts said it was 15 seconds until all you could see from her Oak Heights neighborhood was the damage in every direction.
“I’ve struggled in ways that, I don’t know, more than I ever have before,” said Watts looking over the damage to her house.
From where she stands at her home, Watts can see so much that makes her grateful. Watts has a flag waving over the destruction.
“We need those symbols," she said. "We need to know that there’s hope.”
“There’s my little girl," Watts continued, showing a picture of Cavvy. “She’s the light of my life, and I didn’t know what life was until her.”
A room may no longer be where Cavvy grows up, but Watts said in a community that supports one another this much; her little girl could never grow up around better people.
“I’m thankful I’m seeing God’s blue sky and breathing this fresh air,” said Watts. “I’m just grateful to be here.”
