16 people died as a result of the catastrophic flooding that occurred in eastern Kentucky.
“Folks, that’s numbers going to go up a lot more,” Gov. Andy Beshear said during a Friday briefing. Beshear indicated earlier that he thought the death toll would rise to 30.
Beshear confirmed the deaths of an 81-year-old woman in Perry County, a 79-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman in Letcher County, and a 76-year-old woman in Clay County.
Eleven of the deaths occurred in Knott County, including a 63-year-old man, a 65-year-old woman, and two children, Beshear said.
Search and rescue teams were supported by the National Guard in their relentless search for missing people – both in boats and in helicopters. Beshear stated that it was difficult to know the exact number.
Over 200 people are in shelters and 23,000 Kentucky residents are still without power.
PowerOutage.US monitors the effects of floodwaters on 23185 customers.
Beshear tweeted a warning that central Kentucky and eastern Kentucky remain under flood watch.
“While rain totals are not expected to be as high, flooding still remains a concern due to saturated grounds. Please stay safe and alert, Kentucky,” he wrote.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Jackson tweeted that the area would see a “decent break” from Friday night and into Saturday.
It said that “More rainfall, storms, and heavy rain arrive Sunday through Tuesday” and that it was possible that Sunday and Monday could bring more rain.
The area was already affected by flooding and torrential rains in West Virginia and southern West Virginia.
Virginia experienced more than 7,500 outages on Friday.
Gov. Jim Justice declared an emergency for six West Virginia counties following severe thunderstorms that caused extensive flooding.
