MAYFIELD, Ky. — Royce Buck stood in his guest bedroom, where from the blown out window he could only see piles of debris where neighbors' homes once stood, and scraps of wood and siding tangled together in the yard. 


What You Need To Know

  • The Bucks were only the second family to live in the house, built in 1925, on 6th Street in Mayfield

  • The two survived the storm with their dogs inside a bathroom under the stairs

  • Royce Buck’s law firm a block away was a total loss

  • Throughout the day, friends had been offering help with the task of cleanup

The roof was gone and water dripped from the ceiling.

The Bucks were only the second family to live in the house, built in 1925 on 6th Street in Mayfield. 

The guest bedroom of Royce Buck's home in Mayfield. (Spectrum News 1/Erin Kelly)

"We really, this is what’s going to get to me," he said, as his eyes filled with tears. "My wife and I really just felt like we were more caretakers than owners, you know. I don’t think it can be saved. I haven’t talked to anybody yet, but as I look around, I just can’t imagine what it would take to put it back like it was."

The two survived the storm with their dogs inside a bathroom under the stairs. 

"It hit about 30 seconds or less after we got in there, so we, we’re really fortunate," Buck said. 

Buried underneath rubble in front of the house is a truck that Buck purchased six weeks ago. A block away, his law firm is a total loss, he said.

Throughout the day, friends had been offering help with the enormous task ahead of them.

"Trying not to think about it, you know, stay busy," Buck said. "Just work, just stay busy, just do what has to be done and because if I stop and I look and I start thinking, then it kind of gets to you."