[Clinchmore Flood Pt 1]

The aftermath of the 1965 Clinchmore Creek flood, as described by the area's inhabitants.

00:00Copy video clip URL Camera set-up, instruction for camera techniques.

00:54Copy video clip URL Walking down a dirt path in the woods, Cornelius Kennedy and Mattie Phillips come to a creek and discuss the area, where about 400 people lived before the flood in 1965. Kennedy talks about his family’s history in the area. He belongs to SOCM, Save Our Cumberland Mountains. 

04:36Copy video clip URL A creek, Kennedy discusses his uncle’s house which used to be on that spot by Clinchmore Creek before the flood. There’s no visible remnant of the house. He discusses his family’s experience of the flood and their history in the area as he stands in a now-empty field with an Phillips. 

08:32Copy video clip URL Phillips talks about the houses in the area. Conversation about the creek during the flood. 

11:55Copy video clip URL Discussion of relatives who were stranded down the creek. Kennedy describes “an ocean of water” where there is normally a small creek and points out where five people lost their lives during the flood. Changes in the creek’s path after the flood. The houses that used to stand in the area. 

13:30Copy video clip URL The beauty in the area before the flood. Logging and strip mining causing widespread destruction in the region.

15:48Copy video clip URL Phillips talks about the church that she used to attend on this spot. The two discuss the family members that lived in that area of the creek, and she talks about her son’s experience of the flood. The devastation caused to the families in the area. Rescuing the inhabitants during the flood. 

20:16Copy video clip URL The watermark still visible from the flood on a ridge. Former spots of houses, a bridge, a public road. There’s no remaining sign of any of them. Shots of the area. 

24:25Copy video clip URL Former site of the Clinchmore Church House. 

26:20Copy video clip URL Former spot of the school. 

27:22Copy video clip URL Interior. Interview with George Burchfield and his wife Ettie Burchfield about the flood. George sings “Amazing Grace.” Living through the flood, escaping.