Kentucky floods: 4 dead, dozens rescued amid record rainfall
Multiple flash flood warnings were issued Sunday as a second wave of heavy rain inundated an already battered Kentucky.
One area in Cumberland County saw 8 inches of rain in a 10-hour period, prompting new warnings from the National Weather Service (NWS) in Louisville for residents to seek higher ground.
In a statement provided to Newsweek on Sunday, Governor Andy Beshear's office said the record rainfall has resulted in at least 63 water rescues and evacuations. More than 17 households from Madison County are sheltering, while another 320 in the county are without water.
Beshear declared a statewide emergency on Saturday as torrential rain and severe flash flooding slammed communities. At least four people have died during the flooding, the governor's office confirmed to Newsweek in an email on Saturday afternoon. One death occurred in Jackson County while the others happened in Madison County. The identities of the victims have not yet been released, though Beshear noted earlier that at least one of the fatalities involved a motorist whose vehicle was swept away by fast-moving floodwaters.
"Kentucky, I have some tough news to share. We’ve lost three people in Madison County and one in Jackson County due to flooding," Beshear wrote in a Saturday X post. "Please join Britainy and me as we pray for their families during this difficult time."
“This flooding has devastated so many communities across our state and taken the lives of four children of God, gone too soon," Beshear said in a press release that was provided to Newsweek by his office. "While we are still in the search and rescue phase, we are also working quickly to survey damage to submit a request for federal assistance. People have lost their homes and so much more, and this type of support will be essential as we work to recover and rebuild together.”
The relentless rainfall, which triggered training thunderstorms over the same hard-hit regions, quickly overwhelmed local infrastructure and turned major roadways into rushing rivers.
The NWS office in Jackson issued a flash flood emergency warning for parts of Jackson County Saturday, calling it a “life-threatening situation” and advising residents to seek higher ground immediately.
State and local emergency agencies, including the Kentucky State Police and specialized swift-water rescue teams, have been deployed to the worst-affected areas. Dispatched crews have responded to dozens of distress calls from residents stranded in their homes and trapped inside vehicles.
At least five counties—Bullitt, Madison, Meade, Mercer, and Spencer—along with the city of Richmond, declared localized states of emergency as floodwaters continued to rise Saturday.
In northwestern 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, according to the Associated Press.
Officials stressed that driving conditions could deteriorate rapidly, especially after dark, when visibility drops and floodwaters become harder to detect.
The state's emergency declaration activated statewide response efforts, allowing officials to deploy additional resources and enforce protections such as anti-price-gouging laws.
Beshear has urged residents to keep 911 lines clear for emergencies as crews respond to life-threatening situations across the state.
According to the NWS, multiple rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms remain in the forecast for central and northern Kentucky, including the metropolitan hubs of Louisville and Lexington through Sunday.
Multiple flash flood warnings have been issued across the state until at least 1:15 p.m. CT, according to the NWS.
Social media users have also posted about ongoing water rescues Sunday, although information on the number of rescues and their locations were not immediately available.