Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear provides an update that children are among the at least 20 dead in catastrophic flooding.
HAZARD, Ky. – A line of slow-moving thunderstorms that dumped torrential rain across eastern Kentucky early Thursday is now being blamed for nearly 20 deaths as floodwaters damaged hundreds of homes, vehicles, rivers and creeks rose out of their banks.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced the latest death toll in the Bluegrass State after surveying the damage along with FEMA Administrator Deanna Criswell in a National Guard helicopter. The governor expects that number to continue to rise as rescues are still underway.
"From everything we’ve seen we may be updating the count of how many we’ve lost over the next couple of weeks," the governor said Friday after an aerial tour of some disaster areas.
Deaths have been confirmed in Perry, Knott, Letcher and Clay counties. Eleven of those deaths are in Knott County, including a 63-year-old man, a 65-year-old woman and two children. The bodies of two other children were recovered on Friday, increasing the death toll to nearly 20. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the four children were swept away by floodwaters in Knott County.
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"So keep praying. There's still a lot of people out there, still a lot of people unaccounted for," Beshear said. "We're going to do our best to find them all."
On Friday, President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Kentucky, providing federal aid to support recovery efforts and FEMA teams have been on the ground since Thursday.
Three separate Flash Flood Emergencies were in effect early Thursday morning for areas around Hazard, Buckhorn and McRoberts. The National Weather Service allowed those emergencies to expire as the heaviest rain exited the region.
Video shows flooding in Whitesburg, KY following an unprecedented record level of water along the North Fork Kentucky River.
"Flash Flood Emergencies are issued only for exceedingly rare situations when we have life-threatening or catastrophic flooding ongoing within these communities," FOX Weather meteorologist Jane Minar explained.
Rescue efforts by local first responders and the National Guard continued Friday across eastern Kentucky. However, the number of missing and unaccounted for people is unknown because cell service is down in many of the counties impacted by the floods.
"They see a number of people in Breathitt County alone on the roof, even we have some people in trees waiting for rescue," Beshear said Thursday afternoon in reference to what National Guard troops are encountering in the county some 70 miles southwest of Lexington. "This isn’t just a disaster. It is an ongoing natural disaster, and we are in the midst of it."
If someone wants to report a missing person, they are asked to call their local Kentucky State Patrol post instead of 9-1-1. Those local numbers are listed here.
Over 330 people are staying across 10 shelters open for flood victims in Eastern Kentucky.
Photos from outside of Buckhorn School in Perry County, Kentucky, showed feet of water in the school after a nearby creek quickly rose outside its banks.
Videos and photos from Buckhorn showed a school that was almost entirely underwater and officials said that the disaster might impact the return from summer break for students.
Many roads in this portion of eastern Kentucky were impassable because of high water, and West Virginia's National Guard members were mobilized and sent to the Bluegrass State to help with search and rescue efforts.
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Roofs from houses continue to be carried downstream in the flood water more than 24 hours after the flooding emergency began.
Criswell said from an aerial view, the extent of the long-term impacts are just becoming apparent.
"We saw many homes that are still inundated, that the water has not receded," the FEMA administrator said. "We also saw homes, I think, that are going to have access issues for some time just because the roads are out and bridges are out. And so we know that there is definitely some significant impact to the communities that we just flew over."
Between 7 and 10 inches of rain has fallen in parts of eastern Kentucky since Wednesday, most of which fell in just a few hours early Thursday morning. The cities of Hazard and Jackson have both received nearly 8 inches.
Buckhorn Lake has seen the highest rain total so far, with a report of 10.40 inches of rain falling on Thursday.
"While we're doing search and rescue, there are still real dangers out there. The water hasn't crested in some areas and won't until (Saturday)," the governor said. "We have some scattered showers that are still out there, thankfully, are going to be dry at least Saturday, hopefully, most of Sunday."
However, more rain is forecast on Monday.
The North Fork of the Kentucky River at Whitesburg has risen to an all-time record crest of 20.91 feet, obliterating the previous record of 14.7 feet from Jan. 29, 1957. The river level rose nearly 18 feet in about 10 hours early Thursday morning. Earlier this week, the river level was a measly 1.6 feet.
At the current level, homes and businesses along the river are flooded, and the Kentucky Route 15 bridge in Whitesburg is flooded, according to the National Weather Service.
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The rising water caused officials to evacuate areas around Panbowl Lake in Jackson, Kentucky, on Thursday evening.
Authorities said a muddy discharge around the dam located along Kentucky State Road 15 was concerning enough that over 100 homes and around a dozen businesses had to be evacuated because of the danger of additional flooding.
"The most appropriate action we can take right now is to do everything we can to keep residents safe," Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman said in a news release.
The governor said officials were more optimistic about the damn on Friday morning, which had yet to breach.
Other infrastructure is a significant concern for rescue and recovery efforts. In Perry County, the governor said they are still trying to assess how many bridges the county lost in the flooding. Beshear noted that every culvert in low-lying areas in Letcher County is damaged.
Vice President of External Affairs and Customer Service at Kentucky Power Cindy Wiseman says crews are working on damage assessment in areas of eastern Kentucky. Wiseman notes that broken poles, downed wires, downed trees, and mudslides will present challenges.
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This catastrophic flooding in Kentucky came just two days after a historic flood in St. Louis killed one person on Tuesday when more than 9 inches of rain fell.
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"I wish I could tell you why we keep getting hit here in Kentucky. I wish I could tell you why areas where people may not have that much continue to get it and lose everything," Beshear said. "I can't give you the why, but I know what we do in response to it. The answer is everything we can."
How to donate to the relief efforts: Read more
Parts of eastern Kentucky are underwater Thursday morning as heavy rain causes a Flash Flood Emergency across the Blue Grass State. A stalled front has dumped over 6 inches of water in a short amount of time.
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Editor's note: The developing situation in Kentucky has led to a fluctuation in the death toll. FOX Weather has adjusted this story accordingly.
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