U.S. rescuers are now going door-to-door to find victims of Kentucky’s worst-ever catastrophic flooding, Kentucky’s governor said Sunday as rain returned after a few hours of calm.
• Read more: Kentucky flood death toll rises to 25
Flooding in parts of eastern Kentucky turned some roads into rivers, swept away bridges, swept away homes and killed at least 28 people, according to a new tally from officials.
Damage to mobile phone antennas complicated rescue operations and tallied the number of dead and missing.
“These floods are the most devastating, the deadliest we’ve ever seen,” Gov. Andy Beshear said on NBC. “While we’re trying to remove, it’s raining!”
“We will go door to door and try to find as many people as possible,” he said. “We would find bodies for weeks, many of which would have been transported hundreds of meters.”
The governor visited the flood affected areas in three districts on Sunday. In rain-hit areas, more than 350 people have taken shelter in temporary camps, he said.
In Jackson, the heart of the worst-hit area, rescue workers and volunteers gathered in the parking lot of a Walmart hypermarket Sunday morning.
Some were giving out bottled water. A boat tied to the trailer had the words “FEMA Rescue 4” written on it, a sign that rescuers from the US Disaster Management Agency were on site.
Risk of flash floods
Under heavy dark clouds, the streets were covered with thick mud, heralding fresh rain.
The floods hit a region whose economy was already devastated by the collapse of its main resource, mining.
“They destroyed areas that were already sparsely populated,” Beshear said.
Some parts of Kentucky received about 20 centimeters of rain in 24 hours, and in some places rivers suddenly rose several meters and broke their banks.
On Sunday, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Middle East, including Kentucky.
“The risk of flash flooding will continue through the afternoon and evening due to showers and thunderstorms,” the latest forecast said.
President Joe Biden declared a state of “natural disaster” and released federal reinforcements to support areas affected by “storms, floods, landslides and mudslides.”
The floods are the latest manifestation of the increasingly frequent extreme weather events associated with human-induced global warming.
In December, several dozen violent tornadoes ravaged five states in Central America, mainly western Kentucky, killing at least 79 people.
