More storms renew eastern Kentucky flood threat

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 Saturday 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 Saturday 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 to eastern Kentucky on Monday 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 that 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 on Friday. Some entire water systems were severed or heavily damaged, prompting a significant response from the National Guard and others to distribute bottled water.

Beshear said authorities were checking on people in homes that were still habitable but who might be stranded in areas where private bridges were washed out. Emergency shelters and area state parks housed nearly 530 people who fled homes that were destroyed or badly damaged. Many more residents were staying with relatives and friends.


Debris gathers atop a slide in a children's play area after massive flooding on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, near Haddix, Ky. More strong storms this weekend may cause additional flooding in places. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)