Rain hampers Kentucky flooding rescue efforts

JACKSON, Kentucky－Rescuers in Kentucky are taking the search effort door to door in worsening weather conditions as they brace for a long and grueling effort to locate victims of the flooding that devastated the state's east, the governor said on Sunday.

Some areas in the mountainous region are still inaccessible following flooding that turned roads into rivers, washed out bridges, swept away houses and killed at least 28 people, according to state officials. Poor cellphone service is also complicating rescue efforts.

"This is one of the most devastating, deadly floods that we have seen in our history … And at a time that we're trying to dig out, it's raining," Governor Andy Beshear told NBC's Meet the Press.

"We're going to work to go door to door, work to find, again, as many people as we can. We're even going to work through the rain. But the weather is complicating it."

The number of deaths from the flooding, caused by torrential rain that began on Wednesday, is expected to rise even further.

"We're going to be finding bodies for weeks, many of them swept hundreds of yards," Beshear said.

As many as 37 people were unaccounted for, according to a daily briefing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A dozen shelters were open for flood victims across the state's rain-battered areas with 388 occupants on Sunday.

In the town of Jackson, the seat of hard-hit Breathitt County, state, local and federal rescue teams and aid workers were gathering on Sunday morning in a Walmart parking lot as they prepared to fan out.

Some were distributing water bottles to those in need.

Receding floodwaters had left a thick coating of dust on the streets as an ominously dark cloud cover presaged more rain ahead.

Grinding poverty

The floods hit a region of Kentucky that was already suffering from grinding poverty, driven by the decline of the coal industry that was the heart of its economy, taking everything from people who could least afford it.

Some areas in eastern Kentucky had reported receiving more than 20 centimeters of rain in a 24-hour period.

US President Joe Biden has issued a disaster declaration for the Kentucky flooding, allowing federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.

The eastern Kentucky flooding is the latest in a series of extreme weather events that scientists say are an unmistakable sign of climate change.

Nearly 60 people were killed in western Kentucky by a tornado in December, a disaster that Beshear said offered lessons for current efforts on the other end of the state.

Agencies Via Xinhua