Tears, prayers…… Anderson begins recovery
Search continues for Linda Kuykendall
The city of Anderson appeared quiet and surprisingly dry Monday, just one day after a devastating flash flood tore through the community.
Although not much standing water was evident in Anderson, the results of the storm were evident. Trees were uprooted and a bridge over Beaver Branch in Anderson had collapsed. A nearby store building’s red-brick side had collapsed.
Even so, the mud was drying under a nearly-clear sky and warm temperatures.
One longtime Anderson resident and his wife surveyed the damage. They appeared shell-shocked.
“Highway was 59 was closed on Sunday,” the man said.”It had water over it. You couldn’t go over in town. Everything had police lines up.”
The elderly man says Monday began with a a more devastating image: “They had police dogs out this morning, searching for a body.”
The desperate search for Linda Denise Kuykendall, the woman swept away by the flood, continued into Tuesday when the search area was expanded after a cadaver dog gave an alert. Kuykendall, her son and fiancee and two children were in her house when the waters washed the house away.
Her daughter-in-law said in a Facebook post Tuesday that all the family has, at this point, are “tears and prayers.”