Neon Lights

A once-in-a-thousand year flood

When Eastern Kentucky was hit with flash floods in 2022, the former coal town of Fleming-Neon in Letcher County was among the hardest hit. As rain and landslides poured down the mountains into the valley, water rose 12 feet high on Main Street, carrying vehicles through town, flooding buildings, and destroying infrastructure. Telephone service, electricity, and water were all cut off, isolating the town for days. One man’s home was carried downriver and became lodged under a bridge, leaving him stranded until he could be rescued.

While the floods took a heavy toll on Fleming-Neon, they also showcased the community's resilience. People stepped up to help their neighbors and share supplies. Volunteers used four-wheelers to reach homes cut off by flooded roads, set up generators to restore power, and organized cookouts to ensure everyone had something to eat.

Rising from the waters

Two of those who stepped up to help were long-time residents, Jeff and Cheryl Hawkins. When the floods submerged City Hall, the community needed a new place to meet and coordinate relief efforts. The couple quickly got to work clearing out a building they owned above the floodplain, and transformed it into a disaster recovery center.

As the community began its recovery, Jeff and Cheryl became part of a group of residents thinking about Fleming-Neon’s future. "People came to meetings not to talk about replacing what was lost, but with ideas on how to rebuild something better," Cheryl explains. "We named the group 'Neon Rising' — we were rising from the floodwater."

Beyond addressing flood damage, Neon Rising is focused on long-term challenges: disappearing jobs, decaying infrastructure, and the consequences of industrial decline. Jeff elaborates: "When coal dominated, other industries were pushed away. So when the mines shut down, there were few other employment opportunities. Young people left, draining Neon of our most valuable resource. Our job is to create opportunity to bring them back."

A plan for the future

The community developed an ambitious plan to attract families and businesses to Neon. This vision includes upgrading sewage and water systems, deploying fiber broadband, creating new affordable homes, establishing a small business loan fund, transforming the town into a nature tourism destination, and more.

The pieces of this plan fit together as part of an ecosystem designed to bring people and opportunity back to Fleming-Neon. The group believes that Neon's future success rests on the strength of its past: its openness to people.

The Opportunity

This vision for Neon Lights will be one important part of the broader Neon Rising community improvement plan.

Progress is happening. The community has commissioned designs for new public parks, ATV trails, and the Neon Heights housing complex. Through the Appalachia Digital Accelerator, it has developed a plan for state-of-the-art broadband. Sewer improvements are underway, and $1.9 million in state funds have been earmarked to refurbish the Neon Lights building and make it energy independent.

This is just the start. To realize this vision, Neon Rising needs support from state and federal government, as well as philanthropic and community development partners.

Once achieved, Neon’s improvement plan won’t just benefit the community—it could be a model for local governance and civic redesign, powering the comeback of overlooked rural communities.