The flood toll is “appalling”, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was moved on Friday. Unfortunately, it is much worse on Saturday since there are now 25 dead across this American state and this figure is expected to rise further.
“We have bad news to report today from eastern Kentucky, where we are still in the search and rescue phase”a tweeté Andy Beshear. “The death toll has risen to 25 and that number is likely to increase”added the elected Democrat.
“There are still a lot of people about whom we have no news and in this area, it will be difficult to give an exact figure of the missing”he then clarified on CNN.
Torrential rains fell on the eastern part of the central United States overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, turning some roads into rivers and forcing residents to take refuge on the roof of their houses while waiting for help . Others found themselves trapped by the rising waters or swept away by the waves in their vehicles.
Four brothers and sisters, aged between one and a half and eight years old, were swept away by the waters when they had taken refuge at the top of a tree with their parents. The bodies of two of them have been found and two remain missing, according to the local newspaper Lexington Herald Leader. An 82-year-old woman also drowned while trying to get to safety, authorities said.
State of “natural disaster”
President Joe Biden has decreed the state of “natural disaster” and released federal reinforcements to support areas affected by “the storm, the floods, the landslides and the mudslides”.
Some areas of Kentucky received some 20 centimeters of rain in 24 hours and, in places, the waters of the rivers suddenly rose several meters before emerging from their beds. In the most affected places, houses were submerged, the lightest torn from the ground. “Hundreds of people have lost everything” and it will take at least a year to rebuild, Andy Beshear estimated.
In the meantime, the emergency services, supported by reinforcements sent by neighboring states, are all mobilized to come to the aid of the victims. “But there is so much water, the currents are so strong that we cannot reach everyone”, he lamented. Heavy rain is expected until Friday evening, and the flood alert has been maintained.
After the tornadoes
With human-induced global warming, the atmosphere contains more water vapour, increasing the chances of heavy rainfall events, scientists say. These rains, associated with other factors linked in particular to land development, promote flooding.
Thousands of people remained without electricity or running water on Friday. Shelters have been opened in gymnasiums, churches and state parks.
“These are the worst floods Kentucky has ever seen and they come after the worst tornadoes in Kentucky history», noted Andy Beshear. In December, several dozen violent tornadoes ravaged five states in the center of the United States, mainly Kentucky, and killed at least 79 people. President Joe Biden, who visited the site, then stressed that the weather phenomena were “more intense” with global warming.
Update Saturday, July 30 with the new death toll of 25.