• Flash floods have killed at least 19 people in eastern Kentucky’s Appalachia region.
• Governor Andy Beshear predicted that the death toll would rise further.
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• Flooding created mudslides and rendered roads unusable after severe rain. President Joe Biden declared the flooding a “serious disaster”.

Devastating flash floods have killed at least 19 people in eastern Kentucky’s Appalachia region, the biggest such disaster in decades.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear predicted that the death toll would rise further. Hundreds of homes and businesses, he added, have been swamped.

President Joe Biden declared the flooding a “serious disaster” and directed federal assistance to assist local rescuers.

At least six children, including a one-year-old, were killed.

Climate warming, according to scientists, is causing more catastrophic weather occurrences like the floods in Kentucky.

Mr. Beshear remarked after an aerial tour with the National Guard that the flood was “by far the worst” he had ever seen.

“There’s still a lot of people out there, still a lot of people unaccounted for. We’re going to do our best to find them all,” he said. So far hundreds have been rescued by boat or helicopter.

There is severe poverty in the afflicted area, where at least 33,000 people are currently without power. Flooding created mudslides and rendered roads unusable after severe rain.

According to Mr. Beshear, flash floods have occurred in Appalachia previously, but not on this scale.

“Folks who deal with this for a living, who have been doing it for 20 years, have never seen water this high,” he said.

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