Four people have been killed in flooding triggered by powerful thunderstorms in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday, as he issued a state of emergency ahead of more expected rain.
The National Weather Service said flash flood warnings remained in place Saturday for portions of Kentucky and Indiana as heavy downpours continued across the region.
By late Saturday afternoon, the weather agency reported that some areas of southwestern Indiana had already received between 4 and 10 inches of rain, with additional rainfall still possible.
Beshear’s office warned that parts of Kentucky could see as much as 7 inches of rain through late Saturday evening.
In a post on social media, the governor said three of the deaths occurred in Madison County and one in Jackson County, all linked to flooding.
Two of the victims, a man and a woman, were discovered dead inside their home after floodwaters swamped part of Richmond, Kentucky, leaving residents trapped in their houses, the Madison County coroner’s office said.
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A third victim was recovered from a vehicle that became stuck in floodwaters on Tates Creek Road near Lexington, according to the coroner’s office.
Carlos Coyle, the deputy Madison County coroner, said search-and-rescue crews were moving door to door in the hardest-hit neighborhoods to look for victims, though some locations remained unreachable.
Beshear said on social media there were “significant roads underwater” in Madison County.
He also said at least 12 state roads were “out of commission” because they were flooded.
“This is a serious flooding event, where teams have already had to conduct multiple water rescues from vehicles and homes across the commonwealth,” he said in a separate statement. “As more heavy rain continues through late tonight, we need folks to remain alert and to avoid driving, especially after dark when there is limited visibility.”
In northwest Kentucky, just outside Louisville, Bullitt County emergency management officials asked residents of a rural road to evacuate as a precaution after a landslide at a dam embankment.
The dam was holding, and there was no indication of imminent failure, they said.
The area saw about 3 inches of rain in the past two days, according to the National Weather Service.
