In 1869, Swiss immigrants founded the town of Helvetia in West Virginia. To this day, its inhabitants keep Swiss traditions alive. But the small village is facing an uncertain future.
Last December, tornadoes ripped through our region, killing almost a hundred people and leaving many more without homes.Thousands of people applied for federal assistance but the government denied most of them. This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear from residents in Kentucky who were denied aid. We’ll also hear a special documentary about the Buffalo Creek Flood of 1972, one of the worst catastrophes in U.S. history. Fifty years later, what do people remember? How is that disaster inspiring a new generation to take better care of the land and water? We’ll also learn about West Virginia’s first, and only, curling club, and meet a woman in the small town of Helvetia, West Virginia who’s reviving her family’s tradition of making swiss cheese.
Helvetia is a rural town nestled close to the Monongahela National Forest, and like Thrayron Morgan, most of its residents can trace their heritage back to Switzerland.