Kentucky faces devastating flooding with 8 dead and more than a thousand rescued

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Severe flooding has wreaked havoc across Kentucky, leading to more than 1,000 rescues as emergency teams race to help those trapped by rising waters. At least eight fatalities have been confirmed, with officials warning that the death toll will likely rise as search and rescue efforts continue.

“This is one of the most serious weather events we’ve dealt with in at least a decade,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said Sunday.

The fatalities reported stemmed from several counties, including Hard, Pike and Clay, with many incidents involving vehicles attempting to navigate floodwaters. Beshear emphasized the importance of staying off roadways to prevent further loss of life.

A mother and her 7-year-old child were killed in Kentucky when the car they were in was swept away by flood waters in Hart County near Interstate 65, a county official told WBKO-TV. Hart County Coroner Tony Roberts said the two were swept away Saturday night in the Bonnieville community. In southeastern Kentucky, a 73-year-old man was found dead in floodwaters in Clay County, County Emergency Management Deputy Director Revelle Berry said.

Nearly 40,000 residents are without power, 9,800 service connections lack water and 26,000 are under a boil water advisory, authorities said at the Sunday press conference. Pike County School District announced Sunday that it will be closed until further notice.

Beshear said Sunday that President Trump had approved his request for disaster relief funding.

Much of the U.S. faced another round of biting winter weather Sunday. The Northern Plains faced life-threatening cold, and tornado watches were issued for parts of Georgia and Florida.

Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee received up to 6 inches of rain during the weekend storms, said Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service.

“The effects will continue for awhile, a lot of swollen streams and a lot of flooding going on,” Oravec said Sunday. “Any time there’s flooding, the flooding can last a lot longer than the rain lasts.”

A levee in Rivas, Tennessee, failed Saturday afternoon and flooded the nearby neighborhoods, the weather service reported. It’s unclear how many people were affected.

Severe storms also swept through parts of Florida and Georgia, where tornado watches were in effect early Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

In Atlanta, a person was killed when an “extremely large tree” fell on a home early Sunday, according to Atlanta Fire Rescue Capt. Scott Powell. He told reporters that firefighters were dispatched just before 5 a.m. after a 911 call.

Elsewhere, bone-chilling cold is expected for the Northern Plains with low temperatures into the minus 30s F near the Canadian border. Dangerously cold wind chill temperatures in the Dakotas and Minnesota of minus 40 Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius) to minus 50 F are expected.

Heavy snowfall amounts were expected in parts of New England and northern New York. In some areas, wind gusts could reach 60 mph and create “hazardous whiteout conditions,” the NWS said.

Water submerged cars and buildings in Kentucky and mudslides blocked roads in Virginia late Saturday into Sunday. Both of the states were under flood warnings, along with Tennessee and Arkansas.

Chilly temperatures replaced the heavy rains with snow early Sunday morning in parts of Kentucky.

Gov. Beshear preemptively declared a state of emergency in Kentucky ahead of the storms.

The Kentucky River Medical Center in the city of Jackson closed its emergency department and was transferring all patients to two other hospitals in the region. The hospital said it would re-evaluate conditions Sunday morning to determine when it can safely reopen. The north fork of the Kentucky River was forecast to crest nearly 14 feet above flood stage that afternoon, the weather service said.

Photos posted by authorities and residents on social media showed cars and buildings underwater in south-central and eastern Kentucky. In Buchanan County, Virginia, the sheriff’s office said multiple roads were blocked by mudslides.

The Simpson County Office of Emergency Management in Kentucky said authorities performed several rescues from stalled-out vehicles in floodwaters.

“Stay home if you can,” the office said on Facebook.