The National Guard-supported search and rescue teams looked for missing persons on Friday after historic flooding in some of the most impoverished areas of the country completely destroyed entire communities.
The governor of Kentucky reported 16 fatalities, and he anticipated that number to rise as long as it rained.
Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Perry County, Kentucky, which was severely affected, said, “We’ve still got a lot of searching to do. “There are still persons missing,”
In Appalachian valleys and hollows, villages that are close to creeks and streams were overwhelmed by powerful floodwaters that flooded houses and businesses, piled up abandoned cars, and crunched errant machinery and debris against bridges.
People were trapped on steep slopes by mudslides, and 33,000 customers were without electricity at least.
Children were among the victims, said to Gov.
Andy Beshear, who also warned that as rescue crews comb the disaster region, the death toll might more than quadruple.
The governor stated at a late-morning briefing that “the tough news is 16 verified fatalities already, and folks that’s likely to become a lot higher.”
Four counties in eastern Kentucky, he said, had reported fatalities.
On Thursday, emergency personnel performed hundreds of water rescues as well as nearly 50 air rescues, according to the governor.
“Not only is this a continuing calamity, but there are still people in need of rescue.
In some places, the water won’t reach its peak until tomorrow.”
With cell service and electricity out in the disaster area, determining the number of people missing is difficult, he said: “This is so widespread, it’s a challenge on even local officials to put that number together.”
According to Beshear, more than 200 people have sought refuge.
He sent National Guard troops to the worst-affected districts.
Due to the substantial property destruction, three parks set up shelters, and the governor created an online fundraising platform for the victims.
Beshear said it will take more than a year to properly reconstruct and said President Biden called to offer his support for the protracted recovery process.
“The situation is once again county-wide, and it’s the worst we’ve seen in a while, Friley told WKYT-TV.
There are still a few places where rescue workers cannot get them.”
Roads, bridges, and homes’ foundations were all damaged by flooding, Perry County dispatchers told WKYT-TV.
On Facebook, the mayor of Hazard urged residents to keep off the roads and “hope for a break in the rain” while announcing that rescue workers had been working all night.
further downpour After several days of severe rain, Friday brought misery to the area. Inundating highways and necessitating the use of boats and helicopters by rescue teams to reach trapped individuals, the storm sent water spilling from hillsides and surging out of streambeds.
In a region with widespread poverty, flooding also caused damage to areas of western Virginia and southern West Virginia.
According to Beshear, “hundreds of families have lost everything.” “Furthermore, a lot of these families were already struggling.
It consequently hurts considerably more. We will, nevertheless, be there for them.”
According to Poweroutage.us, more than 33,000 people were still without power on Friday in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia, with the majority of the outages occurring in Kentucky.
In order to reach residents in areas where roads were impassable, rescue teams also worked in West Virginia and Virginia.
Six counties in West Virginia where the floods caused trees to fall, power outages, and obstructed roadways were placed under a state of emergency by Governor Jim Justice.
Additionally, Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared an emergency, allowing Virginia to mobilise resources across inundated portions of southwest Virginia.
More rain is expected over the ensuing days, so Youngkin stated in a statement, “We want to lean forward in giving as many resources as possible to assist people affected.”
The National Weather Service said that flash flooding in some areas of the region was still possible into Friday evening, even though some levels had subsided after reaching their height on Thursday.
According to Brandon Bonds, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Jackson, the hardest hit portions of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches over a 48-hour period ending Thursday.
A fresh flash flood warning was issued on Friday as a result of more rain that fell in several regions overnight, including Martin County, which received another 3 inches or so.
At least two records were broken by the North Fork of the Kentucky River.
Whitesburg’s river gauge measured 20.9 feet (6.4 meters), which is more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) over the previous record. Jackson’s river gauge measured a record 43.47 feet (13.25 meters), according to Bonds.
According to Bonds, some areas may experience additional rain on Friday afternoon before drying out on Saturday “before things pick back up Sunday and into next week.”
As her family hurried through the night to evacuate cars, tents, trailers, and other equipment as the floodwaters in her town of Jackson in southeast Kentucky rose quickly, Krystal Holbrook had had enough on Thursday.
Finding higher ground “is getting a little bit harder,” she said.
Floodwaters at Whitesburg, Kentucky, seeped into Appalshop, an arts and education facility recognised for fostering and maintaining the local history and culture.
According to Meredith Scalos, the organization’s director of communications, “We’re not sure exactly the entire damage since we haven’t been able to safely get into the building or actually get too close to it.”
“We do know that some of our archival materials had poured into Whitesburg streets from the building.”