JACKSON, United States — Rescuers in
Kentucky are taking the search
effort door-to-door in worsening weather conditions as they brace for a long
and grueling effort to locate victims of flooding that devastated the state’s
east, its governor said Sunday.
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Some areas in the
mountainous region are still inaccessible following flooding that turned roads
into rivers, washed out bridges, swept away houses and killed at least 26
people. Poor cell phone service is also complicating rescue efforts.
“This is one of
the most devastating, deadly floods that we have seen in our history. ... And
at a time that we’re trying to dig out, it’s raining,” Governor Andy Beshear
told NBC.
“We’re going to
work to go door to door, work to find, again, as many people as we can. We’re
even going to work through the rain. But the weather is complicating it,”
Beshear said.
The governor had
earlier raised the death toll from the flooding, which was caused by torrential
rain that began on Wednesday, to 26, tweeting that the number will rise
further.
“We’re going to be
finding bodies for weeks, many of them swept hundreds of yards, maybe a quarter
mile-plus from where they were lost,” Beshear said on NBC.
In the town of
Jackson, county seat of hard-hit Breathitt County, state, local, and federal
rescue teams and aid workers were gathering Sunday morning in a Walmart parking
lot as they prepared to fan out.
Some were
distributing water bottles to those in need. A boat marked “FEMA Rescue 4” sat
on a trailer, indicating the presence of federal emergency crews.
Receding flood
waters had left a thick coating of dust on the streets as an ominously dark
cloud cover presaged more rain ahead.
The floods hit a
region of Kentucky that was already suffering from grinding poverty — driven by
the decline of the coal industry that was the heart of its economy — taking
everything from people who could least afford it.
“It wiped out
areas where people didn’t have that much to begin with,” Beshear said.
Some areas in
eastern Kentucky had reported receiving more than 20cm of rain in a 24-hour
period.
The water level of
the North Fork of the Kentucky River at Whitesburg rose to a staggering 610cm
within hours, well above its previous record of 450cm.
The National
Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center warned Sunday of the potential for
flooding in a swath of the
US, including central and eastern Kentucky.
“The threat of
flash flooding will be increasing through the day as heavy showers and
thunderstorms develop and expand in coverage,” it said on Twitter.
President
Joe Biden has issued a disaster declaration for the Kentucky flooding, allowing
federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.
The eastern
Kentucky flooding is the latest in a series of extreme weather events that
scientists say are an unmistakable sign of climate change.
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