Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear on Friday morning said that the death toll due to torrential rains rose to 15 in Eastern Kentucky, destroying hundreds of homes and wiping out entire communities.
It is reported that search and rescue teams, with the help of the National Guard, were searching for missing people on Friday after record floods washed through the region. The governor has declared a state of emergency.
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Speaking to the Associated Press, Beshear, before touring the disaster area, said that the 15 dead in Kentucky include children, “but I expect that number to more than double, probably even throughout today.”
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More rain was expected on Friday and into the weekend after more than 6 inches of rain fell in some counties Wednesday night into Thursday. Meteorologist Brandon Bonds with the National Weather Service in Jackson said it won’t take much more rain to “cause even more damage.” A flood watch or warning was expected to stay in effect for many of the areas that saw the worst of the flooding.
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Power outage was reported and more than 33,000 customers remained without electricity on Friday in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, with the bulk of the outages in Kentucky.
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Rescue crews also worked in Virginia and West Virginia to reach people in places where roads weren’t passable. Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six counties in West Virginia where the flooding downed trees, power outages and blocked roads.