NewsTribune

More storms bring renewed flood threat in hard-hit Kentucky

Thunderstorms on Friday brought a renewed threat of flooding to parts of Kentucky ravaged by high water a week ago.

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch through this morning for nearly the entire state.

As residents continued cleaning up from the late July floods that killed at least 37 people, rain started falling on already saturated ground in eastern Kentucky late Friday morning. Some places could receive up to 3 inches of rain by Friday night, and the storm system wasn’t expected to let up until at least this evening, the weather service said.

“There’s a lot of debris that’s out there that could cause clogging in waterways that could lead to flooding,” Beshear said at a news conference.

Due to unsafe travel conditions, Gov. Andy Beshear canceled visits to two flood-ravaged counties Friday.

The White House announced Friday that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel Monday to eastern Kentucky to survey the damage from last week’s devastating floods and meet with those affected. The Bidens would join Beshear and his wife, Britainy, at an unspecified Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster recovery center.

Last week’s storm in eastern Kentucky sent floodwaters as high as rooftops. In the days afterward, more than 1,300 people were rescued as teams searched in boats and combed debris-clogged creekbanks. Beshear said Friday two people in Breathitt County remained missing.

Many residents are still waiting for their utilities to be restored. About 2,000 Kentucky customers remained without electricity Friday. Some entire water systems were severed or heavily damaged, prompting a significant response from the National Guard and others to distribute bottled water.

NATIONAL

en-us

2022-08-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.newstribune.com/article/281706913448569

WEHCO Media