Death Toll Rises To 25 In Eastern Kentucky Flooding

JACKSON, KY — The death toll from record flooding in eastern Kentucky has reached 25 and is likely to continue to rise significantly, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Saturday morning.

The known deaths have occurred across five counties: Knott (14), Breathitt (4), Perry (3), Clay (2) and Letcher (2).

Among the deaths are four children, two less than previously reported. It's possible that authorities will be finding more bodies for "weeks to come," as it is still difficult to safely reach certain areas, Beshear said.

Active search and rescue operations are continuing in an attempt to get as many people to safety as possible, the governor said.

Beshear described the flooding as "total devastation, the likes of which we have never seen" after he saw it firsthand flying over portions of eastern Kentucky on Friday.

Combined efforts of the National Guard from Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia as well as law enforcement agencies have rescued more than 1,300 people from areas affected by flooding, according to Beshear.

Authorities are still attempting to get an accurate count of missing persons, limitations on phone service in the area is hampering those efforts, Beshear said.

Restoring cell service online is critical, and mobile towers are being set up to help improve service, according to Beshear.

Areas affected by flooding finally got a respite as rain in the area let up early Friday. Total rainfall in the affected counties ranged from 8 to 10.5 inches over 48 hours beginning Wednesday.

More rain is expected beginning Sunday afternoon, according to Accuweather. The additional rainfall "could be rough" for the area, Beshear said.

Also Saturday, President Joe Biden added individual assistance to the disaster declaration he issued Friday to provide monetary relief to more than a dozen counties in eastern Kentucky.

The Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund has raised over $684,000 in more than 5,000 donations, and the first expenses from the fund will help victims' families with funeral costs, Beshear said.

"It's the least that we can do to be there with those folks in an incredibly difficult time," Beshear said. "We care about you, and we can't imagine the grief you're going through."

With police heavily involved in search and rescue efforts, authorities are asking for people to only dial 911 in cases of emergency. People are urged to call the Kentucky State Police posts by county to report missing family and friends. Those are:

• 606-435-6069: for Breathitt, Perry, Knott, Letcher or Leslie counties
• 606-433-7711: for Magoffin, Johnson, Martin, Floyd, or Pike counties
• 859-623-2404: for Jackson, Owsley, or Lee counties.
• 606-784-4127: for Wolfe or Morgan counties
• 606-573-3131: for Harlan County

Thousands were still without power Saturday, with more than 16,000 customers affected by outages in the afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.

Knott and Letcher each had nearly 5,000 customers without power. Perry had nearly 3,500 out, and Breathitt had over 2,000 customers experiencing outages.