Death toll from U.S. Kentucky flood rises to 25
Death toll from U.S. Kentucky flood rises to 25
At least 25 people have died as a result of the floods caused by torrential rain that slammed eastern Kentucky, including four children from one family, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear confirmed on Saturday.
Beshear anticipated that the death toll will increase given that at least a dozen more people had been reported missing and that certain places remained unreachable.
Beshear was quoted by local media as saying that it will probably take years for towns impacted by the floods to rebuild.
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As of Saturday morning, according to Kentucky Power, 16,000 people remained without electricity throughout the state.
Beshear on Thursday ordered the National Guard to assist the most severely affected areas and issued a state of emergency for the whole state of Kentucky. On Friday, three state parks were made available for people who lost their houses to stay in.
West Virginia and Virginian regions were also affected by flooding. The emergency has been proclaimed in six counties by West Virginia Governor Jim Justice.
President of the United States Joe Biden has authorised a disaster designation and announced federal assistance to aid with recovery efforts.
Early on Saturday, areas of eastern Kentucky were still under flood warnings.
Rivers in Kentucky will peak this weekend, according to weather forecasting service AccuWeather, so further storms will follow a respite in the poor weather on Saturday.