Randy Travis is sending prayers to all those impacted by the devastating floods in eastern Kentucky.
As he shared his support for impacted Kentuckians on social media, Travis posted a photograph that was particularly poignant because of its connection to his hit ballad from 2002, “Three Wooden Crosses.”
The photo depicts a scene from the eastern Kentucky flooding, of three roadside crosses all but submerged underneath the flooded water.
He also posted some of the lyrics of the song, which tells the story of four passengers — a farmer, a preacher, a teacher and a sex worker — involved in a bus accident, leaving three wooden crosses representing the lives lost in the crash.
“Why there’s not four of them, Heaven only knows,” Travis sings in the song, which goes on to reveal that it was the sex worker who survived. She went on to have a son who grew up to be a preacher himself, and carried the bloodstained Bible that the preacher laid in the sex worker’s hands before he died in the bus accident.
“Keeping all of the victims and the families affected by the awful flooding in eastern KY in our prayers,” Travis writes in the caption of his post.
The flooding in eastern Kentucky began with heavy rains early on Thursday (July 28). According to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, the death toll in the eastern Ky. flooding is at 37 as of Tuesday morning (Aug. 2), and is expected to rise.
“We are still looking for people, and sadly, we are still finding those bodies,” Beshear told CNN on Monday (Aug. 1).
Relief efforts have been challenged by the washed-out infrastructure of the affected Appalachian communities, in combination with cell service black outs and dangerously high temperatures expected in the days ahead. Local authorities are requesting additional help from people with utility terrain vehicles, in order to clear paths, deliver water and help evacuate those who wish to leave the area.
Several country stars have voiced their support for the victims of the flooding, and Chris Stapleton went down to some of the hardest-hit counties to help with flood relief efforts.