Appalachian Floods Kill at Least 15 as Rescue Teams Deploy

July 29, 2022by Bruce Schreiner and Timothy D. Easley, Associated Press
Appalachian Floods Kill at Least 15 as Rescue Teams Deploy
Homes are flooded by Lost Creek, Ky., on Thursday, July 28, 2022. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)

JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard searched Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America. Kentucky’s governor said 15 people have died, a toll he expected to grow as the rain keeps falling.

“We’ve still got a lot of searching to do,” said Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Kentucky ’s hard-hit Perry County. “We still have missing people.”

Powerful floodwaters swallowed towns that hug creeks and streams in Appalachian valleys and hollows, swamping homes and businesses, leaving vehicles in useless piles and crunching runaway equipment and debris against bridges. Mudslides on steep slopes left many people marooned and without power, making rescues more difficult.

Gov. Andy Beshear told The Associated Press before touring the disaster area Friday that the 15 dead in Kentucky includes children, “but I expect that number to more than double, probably even throughout today.”

Emergency crews made close to 50 air rescues and hundreds of water rescues on Thursday, and more people still needed help, the governor said. “This is not only an ongoing disaster but an ongoing search and rescue. The water is not going to crest in some areas until tomorrow.”

Determining the number of people unaccounted for is tough with cell service and electricity out across the disaster area, he said, “This is so widespread, it’s a challenge on even local officials to put that number together.”

More than 200 people have sought shelter, Beshear said. He deployed National Guard soldiers to the hardest-hit areas. Three parks set up shelters, and with property damage so extensive, the governor opened an online portal for donations to the victims. President Joe Biden called to express his support for what will be a lengthy recovery effort, Beshear said, predicting it will take more than a year to fully rebuild.

More rain Friday tormented the region after days of torrential rainfall. The storm sent water gushing from hillsides and surging out of streambeds, inundating roads and forcing rescue crews to use helicopters and boats to reach trapped people. Flooding also damaged parts of western Virginia and southern West Virginia, across a region where poverty is endemic.

“There are hundreds of families that have lost everything,” Beshear said. “And many of these families didn’t have much to begin with. And so it hurts even more. But we’re going to be there for them.”

Poweroutage.us reported more than 33,000 customers remained without electricity Friday in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, with the bulk of the outages in Kentucky.

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. Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration, enabling Virginia to mobilize resources across flooded areas of southwest Virginia.

“With more rainfall forecasted over the next few days, we want to lean forward in providing as many resources possible to assist those affected,” Youngkin said in a statement.

While some floodwaters receded after peaking Thursday, the National Weather Service said flash flooding remained possible through Friday evening in places across the region.

The hardest hit areas of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches over a 48-hour period ending Thursday, said Brandon Bonds, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Jackson. Some areas got more rain overnight, including Martin County, which was pounded with another 3 inches or so leading to new a flash flood warning on Friday.

The North Fork of the Kentucky River rose to break records in at least two places. A river gauge recorded 20.9 feet (6.4 meters) in Whitesburg, more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) over the previous record, and the river crested at a record 43.47 feet (13.25 meters) in Jackson, Bonds said.

Bonds said some places could see more rain Friday afternoon, and begin to dry out on Saturday “before things pick back up Sunday and into next week.”

Krystal Holbrook already had enough on Thursday, as her family raced through the night to move vehicles, campers, trailers and equipment as the rapidly rising floodwaters menaced her southeastern Kentucky town of Jackson. “Higher ground is getting a little bit difficult” to find, she said.

In Whitesburg, Kentucky, floodwaters seeped into Appalshop, an arts and education center renowned for promoting and preserving the region’s history and culture.

“We’re not sure exactly the full damage because we haven’t been able to safely go into the building or really get too close to it,” said Meredith Scalos, its communications director. “We do know that some of our archival materials have flooded out of the building into Whitesburg streets.”

___

Associated Press Writers Rebecca Reynolds and Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Ky., and Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Md., contributed to this report.

A+
a-

In The News

Health

Voting

Weather

Climate Change in Texas Textbooks Causing Friction in America's Biggest Oil and Gas State

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — How science textbooks in Texas address climate change is at the center of a key vote expected Friday... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — How science textbooks in Texas address climate change is at the center of a key vote expected Friday after some Republican education officials criticized books for being too negative toward fossil fuels in America's biggest oil and gas state. The issue of which textbooks... Read More

Some Houses Being Built to Withstand Hurricanes and Cut Emissions

When Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle five years ago, it left boats, cars and trucks piled up to the... Read More

When Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle five years ago, it left boats, cars and trucks piled up to the windows of Bonny Paulson's home in the tiny coastal community of Mexico Beach, Florida, even though the house rests on pillars 14 feet above the ground.... Read More

In Early 2029, Earth Likely to Lock Into Breaching Key Warming Threshold, Scientists Calculate

In a little more than five years – sometime in early 2029 – the world will likely be unable to... Read More

In a little more than five years – sometime in early 2029 – the world will likely be unable to stay below the internationally agreed temperature limit for global warming if it continues to burn fossil fuels at its current rate, a new study says. The study moves... Read More

A Fight Over Precious Groundwater in Rural California Town Is Rooted in Carrots

NEW CUYAMA, Calif. (AP) — In the hills of a dry, remote patch of California farm country, Lee Harrington carefully... Read More

NEW CUYAMA, Calif. (AP) — In the hills of a dry, remote patch of California farm country, Lee Harrington carefully monitors the drips moistening his pistachio trees to ensure they’re not wasting any of the groundwater at the heart of a vicious fight. He is one... Read More

Storm Pounds New York City Area, Flooding Subways and Leading to Abandoned Vehicles

NEW YORK (AP) — A potent rush-hour rainstorm swamped the New York metropolitan area on Friday, shutting down parts of... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — A potent rush-hour rainstorm swamped the New York metropolitan area on Friday, shutting down parts of the city's subway system, flooding streets and highways, and delaying flights into LaGuardia Airport. Up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell in some areas... Read More

Inside Scientists' Mission to Save America’s Wine Industry From Climate Change

ALPINE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. West Coast produces over 90% of America's wine, but the region is also prone... Read More

ALPINE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. West Coast produces over 90% of America's wine, but the region is also prone to wildfires — a combustible combination that spelled disaster for the industry in 2020 and one that scientists are scrambling to neutralize. Sample a good wine and you... Read More

News From The Well
scroll top