Kentucky flood: 8 people dead as well as death Losses are expected rise as a catastrophic flood enters it second day

CNN
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At least eight people are dead and hundreds of homes destroyed after a catastrophic flood in eastern Kentucky on Thursday, and like lifeguards work reach hard-to-reach areas around the clock amid continued storms, officials say death Expected that rise.

The swollen flood waters washed out bridges worn out out power and forced some of the inhabitants to climb onto their roofs when the water gushed into their homes. The houses and cars of some families were flooded or completely washed away by the flood, which is exacerbated by streams and land. already soaked from the incessant rain.

“We currently experience one of worst, most destructive flood events in Kentucky history,” Gov. Andy Beshear said during news conference on Thursday morning.

Beshir later warned that destruction was far from over as more precipitation is expected on Friday. Eastern Kentucky has low to moderate risk of Friday night flash floods as an extra one up to 3 inches possible during the day, according to the Weather Forecast Center.

Parts of southeastern Kentucky is under flood warning until early Friday morning like storms move through already wet region. Flash flood warning It has also was released for areas near the border of Kentucky and West Virginia where 1 to 2 inches of there is rain already fell.

“Tonight we need your constant prayers for in people of Eastern Kentucky. It’s an ongoing natural disaster with more Rain is expected tonight, which could worsen the situation,” Beshir said. in a tweet Thursday.

An elderly man and woman died after they were carried out of the house. homes in Oneida community, near Manchester, Kentucky, according to Clay County Coroner Jarrod Becknell. The man was 76 years old, the woman in she was in her late 60s or early 70s, Deputy Coroner Joe Crockett said.

No it’s not clear are two deaths included in statewide toll of eight deaths that Beshear announced earlier Thursday.

Thursday night, Kentucky officials recommended people evacuate homes and business in floodplain of Lake Panbowl in Jackson, referring to the Kentucky River. rising water level and “muddy runoff” at the lake’s dam. A portion of Kentucky Route 15 was also closed Thursday evening.

Parts of West Virginia and West Virginia also experienced severe flooding on Thursday and is expected to receive more precipitation on Friday. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued a state of emergency declaration, and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice declared the state of emergency for Based on Fayette, Greenbrier, Logan, McDowell, Mingo, and Wyoming counties. news extracts from akimats.

A lot of of West Virginia in moderate risk for flash flood on Friday, according to the Weather Forecast Center. Southwest region of Virginia also in risk of flood on friday with between one and two inches of rain possible and potentially more in some areas, according to the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Virginia.

At a briefing at the White House on Thursday, the press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Deanne Criswell, administrator for The Federal Emergency Management Agency will travel to Kentucky on Friday to inspect the damage and report back President Joe Biden.

FEMA has also sent salvation personnel and incident management assistance team help in the state’s rescue efforts, she said.

Beshear sent Biden a direct request for federal assistance for Eastern Kentucky, the governor said in tweet.

As flood waters rose to dangerous levels, some Kentuckians quickly became trapped and were unable to escape safely. escape. As many as 30 people we air rescued by the National Guard on Thursday, Beshear said.

Floyd County has approximately 80 people have been rescued since the heavy rains started in in area On Tuesday, District Executive Judge Robbie Williams told CNN.

“I have never seen so much water before,” Williams said. “I’m serious just absolutely poured and we have, you know a little small cities that are completely under water.

Widespread water and power blackouts in in region interfere recovery efforts, Beshear said on Thursday. He noted that the flood interferes for public utilities to access areas needed for recovery power.

More than 23,000 customers were left without power by state as of early Friday, according to PowerOutage.us.

State also has a limited number of helicopters capable of of climb people in air, the governor said. In an effort to help the state recovery efforts, both West Virginia and Tennessee sent helicopters with climb abilities in Kentucky.

West Virginia has also sent National Guard troops to help a neighboring state, Governor Justice said. announced.

Communities also set to work to help their neighbors, including residents in city of Whitesburg.

“We took kayaks, jet skis, boats, chainsaws and axes for everyone place what we could,” local resident Zach Caudill told CNN. Codilla home only hurt a few inches of flood, but he said a few of his neighbors lost homes fully.

Caudill grabbed bandages, gauze, medicine, menstrual supplies, food, water, and blankets. home to pass on to others, he said.

“Everybody was there trying to reach out and help. it how our friendly community yes, said Caudill. “When one of us it hurts, we all hurt.”

Kentucky State Police question residents of at least eight districts call them if they are missing family members and provide information on their loved ones. Counties include Wolfe, Owsley, Breathitt, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Pike, and Perry.

Kentucky was one of several states, including Missouri and Arizona, experienced severe flooding on Thursday amid increasingly extreme weather events exacerbated by the climate crisis.

in St. Louis record- pouring rain at the beginning of a week triggered dangerous flash floods continuing for days and left least one human dead.

As global temperature climb the atmosphere is able to hold more as well as more water, forming water vapor more plentifully available fall like rain.

Precipitation over the earth has become more intensively since the 1980s, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC). The authors of the report say that human influence main driver.

Human-caused Fossil fuel emissions have warmed the planet a bit more than 1 degree Celsius on average, with more intense heating over land. Scientists are becoming more confident in in role that the climate crisis is playing in extreme weather and warned that these events will become more intense and more dangerous with every fraction of degree of warming.