Many eastern Kentucky communities are reeling from devastating floods. Some sections of the Commonwealth saw close to ten inches of rain, much of it coming in the early hours of Thursday. Governor Beshear says deaths are likely to reach double digits. During a briefing, he said more needs to be done regarding flood protection.
“We’ve got some good projects right now, they reduce flooding. I don’t think there’s any magic answer, other than we keep working at it and working at it. And we recognize it and ultimately find solutions in each community which are different,” said Governor Beshear.
The governor said one rescue effort focused on some 15 people at a private school in Breathitt County. He said a lot of assistance is coming from counties near flooded areas. Beshear noted mudslides have affected response efforts. Three state parks at Jenny Wiley, Pine Mountain, and Buckhorn are sheltering people. And the governor called it an ongoing natural disaster with more rain forecast in the next 24 hours.
Adjutant General Hal Lamberton said the focus is not solely on response but also preparation for what may lie ahead.
“It’s not just waiting until there’s an incident or an event that requires some sort of response to it, but pushing resources to the impact area…that we can be even more responsive than we currently are,” said Lamberton.
County emergency response crews remain in non-stop crisis mode to address major flooding across a wide swatch of eastern Kentucky. Wade Burd is with Kentucky Emergency Management. Burd said the emphasis is on life safety and life saving measures. He added the flood waters have done much damage.
“Had some damage to our infrastructure. The flash flooding has washed out some water lines in some areas, caused power outages in many areas. And we’re dealing with that which is having an impact on certainly communications and out water systems, wastewater systems,” said Burd.
Burd said there are about 16 helicopters up in the air lending help with hoisting operations. Four helicopters from West Virginia. Holli Nelson is with the adjutant general’s office in West Virginia.
“And this is something we train for in West Virginia knowing that we have similar terrain as Kentucky. We had the devastating floods in 2016 here in West Virginia. So our aircrews are very confident in their abilities to provide that assistance and to go and help the citizens of Kentucky,” said Nelson.
Nelson noted there are 14 crew members from the West Virginia Guard helping flood victims. Four helicopters from Tennessee are also assisting in the rescue effort.
