During the devastating flooding that destroyed houses and drowned entire villages in eastern Kentucky, at least sixteen people died. Gov. Andy Beshear cautions that the heavy downpours may cost more lives as people prepare for more rain.
Tens of thousands are without electricity, and dozens of people were saved by boat and aircraft. Residents, who were still recuperating from the previous storm, hardly had time to flee as floodwaters tore through the neighborhood brutally and fast.
In Garrett, Kentucky, flood victim Dennis Gross told The Weather Channel’s Mike Seidel, “I lost everything twice. “That means I’ve already lost everything twice. I’m not the only one, either.”
Since moving to Garrett in 1966, Mike and Deborah Reffert had never experienced floods on the scale of this weeks.
“I’ve never seen it this high,” Deborah told Seidel. “It’s just sad to imagine the devastation and just the loss.”
Emergency crews spent Thursday morning trying to rescue some of the stranded by boat. In Perry County, hit especially hard by the flooding, a creek next to an elementary school jumped its banks before sending a wall of water rushing into the building.
“The water was coming over that bridge,” Rebecca Ramey, a Perry County resident, told Seidel. “You can see the debris.”
With more rainfall expected this weekend, Beshear warned residents of potential destruction.
“This is an ongoing disaster that continues to put people in danger,” he said. “Our death toll is growing. And a lot of families out there have lost absolutely everything.”