LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Nearly a week after a deadly tornado swept through southern Kentucky, the debris still covers neighborhoods. But one man, Bronson Bennett, is taking the cleanup efforts into his own hands to give his fellow Kentuckians the second chance they deserve.
"I mean, I've sat there and cried with homeowners as we're cutting things free from their cars and things like that," Bennett said. "There's really no word to describe it, just complete devastation."
While the emotional toll has been heavy, Bennett has made it a habit to drive down to Laurel County from his home in Stanford to help strangers get back on their feet.
"I think it's really just a Kentucky thing," Bennett explained. "I mean, your neighbor's neighbor has you, and you've got your neighbor's neighbor."
Bennett has taken on a variety of tasks, from clearing roadways and removing debris to cutting down trees. It's a job that requires an all-hands-on-deck approach.
"This is, this isn't everybody that can pitch in, pitch in kind of job," said Rhonda Feltner, a Laurel County resident. "It's definitely not just one guy, one crew, one company. It's everybody that can come together, comes together."
Feltner, who was born and raised in the area and has her family living on the same block, met Bennett for the first time today. But she says he and his buddies have already made a significant difference in helping her family return to normalcy.
"It's been crazy, you wouldn't believe on Saturday, we went from total chaos, the trees everywhere and they've already made such a difference," Feltner said. "Getting it all cleaned up for us, it's been great."
Feltner expressed her deep gratitude for the volunteers like Bennett, saying, "We'll always think of them as part of our community because they're helping, they're helping us all get back to some kind of normal, you know, so we'll always think of them when we get everything back together."
And Bennett says he'll be there with them every step of the way.
"We'll just keep going until everybody's, you know, nobody needs us no more," he said. "We're just gonna keep going until we can't go anymore."
As Southern Kentucky continues the long road to recovery, it's clear that people like Bronson Bennett are shining a light of hope across the region.
