Kentucky floods kill 15, more deaths likely

In Kentucky, at least 15 people are dead and entire communities are gone. Torrential rainfall over the last few days is causing flooding on a massive scale.

A series of storms drenched the eastern part of the state. Search and rescue teams and the National Guard are actively looking for survivors, but travel in the area isn’t easy.

Some of the towns that used to hug the creeks and streams in the Appalachian valleys are completely flooded. It’s a devastating scene in one of the poorest parts of the country.

Flood victim Rachel Patton had to swim to safety. She said, “Everything is gone. Like, everything is gone. That whole life is gone.”

A state of emergency has been declared for the impacted counties. Crews have already performed close to 50 air rescues and hundreds of water rescues.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said he expects the death toll to increase.

“In a word, this event is devastating,” Beshear said. “I do believe it will end up being one of the most significant deadly floods that we have had in Kentucky in at least a very long time.”

More than 23,000 households were still without power Friday morning.

Evacuation centers have been set up in state parks and other facilities. Many of those facilities are also impacted by the floods, though, so Beshear warned those sites may be without power or other amenities, as well.

Access to fresh drinking water is a concern as well, so trucks will have to haul it in once the roads look more like roads and less like rivers.

More rain is in the forecast. The region remains under a flood warning.

Reuters contributed to this report.