Significant flooding kills 9 across Kentucky and surrounding states

Excessive rainfall and severe flooding have resulted in the deaths of at least nine people, most of them in Kentucky, according to officials.

The Weather Prediction Center of the National Weather Service (NWS) had issued a rare High Risk warning—the highest level—for excessive rainfall on Saturday. Widespread flooding was expected across much of Kentucky, extending into southwest Virginia, western Tennessee, and southwestern West Virginia.

“Significant, potentially historic, flash flooding is possible today through tonight,” the NWS Paducah office stated in an update yesterday. “Major impacts are possible, especially in western Kentucky, where a corridor of 5 to 8 inches of rain is possible.”

The excessive rainfall event caused major flooding in parts of Kentucky, resulting in at least eight deaths in the state, with the death toll expected to rise, according to Governor Andy Beshear. The governor also noted that emergency crews have conducted over a thousand water rescues.

The fatalities include motor vehicle-related deaths of men in Hart and Nelson counties, as well as flood-related deaths of a man in Clay County, a woman and a child in Hart County, two men in Pike County, and a woman in Washington County, according to Beshear’s office.

President Donald Trump has granted an emergency disaster declaration for Kentucky following a request from Governor Beshear.

An additional death from the same storm system was reported in Atlanta, Georgia, after powerful winds uprooted a tree that crashed into a home bedroom, killing a man who was lying in bed, according to CBS News, citing the Atlanta Fire Rescue.