The death toll in Kentucky’s flooding has risen to at least 25, and certain to “get worse,” Governor Andy Beshear has warned.
“It’s going to get worse. And I think that we will be updating it, maybe even for weeks to come…There are still so many people unaccounted for. And in this area, it’s going to be a hard task to get a firm number of folks unaccounted for,” Beshear told CNN on Saturday.
The governor called on the public to report missing persons, and indicated that the search and rescue operation is still under way. Hundreds of people have been rescued by police and National Guard troops from Kentucky, as well as Tennessee and West Virginia Guard forces deployed to assist.
Commenting on the scale of the flooding, Beshear said “folks who deal with this for a living, who have been doing it for 20 years, have never seen water this high.”
He estimated damages to be in the “tens if not the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Rural counties in Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountains areas have lost cellular and internet services, with at least one hospital reporting that it has been left without water. At least 18,000 homes and businesses remain without electricity, according to a national monitoring service. Flash flooding and torrential rains have also blocked rural roads after some areas received upwards of 20 cm of rain in just 24 hours, with damage reported to over two dozen state roads.
Weather forecasters expect a reprieve from the heavy rains that have battered the region on Saturday, but predict more rain Sunday and into Monday.
Kentucky’s deadly floods followed a deadly tornado season hitting the Western part of the state last year, which killed over 70 people and injured more than 500 others last December.
“I don’t want to lose another Kentuckian. We have lost far too many,” Beshear said in his remarks Saturday.
The White House declared the flooding a major disaster Friday and approved assistance for cleanup and recovery after Beshear appealed to President Biden asking for federal support.
Kentucky’s neighbors have also been affected, with St. Louis closing thirty miles of Interstate 70, and St. Louis County declaring a state of emergency, including the closure of the city’s famous Gateway Arch. More than 6,000 power outages were reported in that state, as well as at least one fatality.