Comment A new round of devastating floods has hit the central United States, this time in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Kentucky, inundating communities and leaving scores of people missing or trapped, with at least three dead. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) called the event “one of the worst, most devastating flooding events in Kentucky history” Thursday morning and said “we expect double-digit fatalities” at a midday news conference. “I think it’s going to end up being one of the most significant fatal floods that we’ve had in Kentucky in at least a long time,” he said. Images shared on social media show houses submerged on their roofs, cars swept away and severe damage to roads and other infrastructure. Beshear said people were still waiting to be rescued at noon while police searched for missing people. “This is not just a disaster, this is an ongoing natural disaster,” Beshear said. “We are in the middle of it. and for some part it will continue till tonight.’ An additional two to three inches of rain is forecast for the affected area Thursday night, Beshear said. Flooding was reported in several counties in southeastern Kentucky early Thursday, including Breathitt, Floyd, Perry, Knott, Leslie, Pike and Magoffin. Scott Sandlin, who answered the phones for Perry County Emergency Management, confirmed one death but had no details on the victim or the circumstances. “Our municipality has been destroyed. We just got washed away,” Scott said. “It was the highest water level I’ve ever seen.” Scott, who has lived in the county for 57 years, said it has been raining for the past two to three days. They have received 11 to 14 inches in the last 48 hours and expect 2 more inches of rain on Thursday. People move away. He said the office has received about 200 calls from people trapped in their homes and in the mountains. The bridges have been washed away. “What we’re going to see from this is massive property damage,” Beshear said. “Hundreds will lose their homes and this will be another event that will take not months but possibly years for many families to rebuild and recover from.” Beshear declared a statewide state of emergency and activated the National Guard to assist victims and the recovery effort Thursday morning. Additional planes are coming from West Virginia and fly boats to augment those from Kentucky Fish and Wildlife already conducting rescues. Rescuers in Black Hawk helicopters are actively involved in rescuing people trapped on rooftops, including a school, said Adj. Gen. Haldane B. Lamberton, head of the Kentucky Army and Air National Guard at Thursday’s noon news conference. The heavy rainfall was caused by the same dead-end weather front that caused historic flooding in St. Louis on Tuesday. The floods in St. Louis and eastern Kentucky are both considered events with less than a 1 in 1,000 chance of occurring in a given year. Historic flooding in St. Louis kills at least 1, traps others The town of Hazard, Ky., was among the hardest hit, with at least 9 inches of rain falling in 12 hours Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Similar amounts fell around Jackson. High water was also widespread near the Virginia-West Virginia border, where homes have been flooded and local media reported people missing. In addition to dozens of homes and businesses flooded in Kentucky, about 25,000 customers were left without power due to the severe weather. The area where flooding is most common is mountainous, rainfall is magnified by the ground, which channels the water to the valley cities below. In many places, streams turned into raging rivers within hours, leaving little time for escape. Landslides and mudslides have also been reported, some of which have cut off communities. The flash flooding began Wednesday night after afternoon thunderstorms turned into a raging deluge. Like train cars along a track, storms repeatedly passed through the same areas. The front along which the storms developed developed along the northern periphery of a tropical heat dome that extended across much of the southern United States. Extreme levels of atmospheric moisture fueled the rainfall totals, which were “more than double (!) the average annual 1 in 100 chance limit and a few inches beyond even the 1 in 1000 limit,” the meteorologist tweeted of the National Meteorological Service Alex. Lamers. Wednesday became Jackson’s second wettest day on record with 4.11 inches. additional rain fell Thursday morning. Some of the top rainfall totals reported include:
Hazard, Ky: 8.55 inches. Buckhorn, Ky.: 8.00 inches. Oneida, Ky.: 7.20 inches. Wiscoal, Ky.: 6.50 inches.
Higher amounts likely occurred, with radar estimates of up to 11 inches. It is even possible that the 24-hour Kentucky state record of 10.48 inches was challenged or surpassed. The North Fork of the Kentucky River broke the all-time record. Rising to more than 20 feet Thursday morning, it easily surpassed the record of 14.7 feet from 1957. The river rose 17 feet in less than 12 hours. River crests may not yet appear in some locations as water continues to move out of the mountains and downstream. The extreme rainfall prompted three flash flood emergencies, each issued by the Weather Service office in Jackson. Intended for the worst flood situations, these emergencies are issued sparingly. They indicate that life-threatening flash floods are occurring. Associated with human-induced climate change, extreme rainfall events have increased dramatically over the past 100 years. The US government’s National Climate Assessment shows that heavy rainfall is now about 20 to 40 percent more likely in and around eastern Kentucky than it was around 1900. New rounds of heavy rain are possible through Friday. The Weather Service has placed eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia under a moderate risk for a level 3 out of 4 rainfall event. Forecasters expected an additional 1 to 3 inches on Thursday and up to 2 to 3 inches of rain per hour on Friday. In addition to ongoing flash flood warnings, a flash flood watch remains in effect late Friday for much of eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia. By Saturday, the front responsible for flooding is likely to drop south of the area, which will significantly reduce the risk of flooding. Annie Gowen, Andrea Sachs and Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
