A huge winter storm brought devastating flooding and at least eight deaths to Kentucky, grounded hundreds of flights across the US and knocked out power to more than half a million customers in the South.
“The statewide impact is massive, with hundreds of water rescues and multiple fatalities,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in a post on X.
Eight people have been found dead, including two adults killed in traffic accidents, and five adults and one child who died in floodwaters, Beshear told reporters on Sunday. Authorities rescued more than 1,000 people, and the governor predicted the toll could increase as the state reaches the “search and rescue phase.”
The weekend storm brought a coating of snow and ice throughout the northeastern US into Ontario and Quebec in Canada. And it’s just the first round of wintry weather that will sweep the continent this week.
“We’re going to be actively dealing with this flood for probably the next week,” Beshear said.
Heavy rains forced the closure of more than 300 roads across Kentucky on Sunday, more than 39,000 power outages and 9,800 water outages. Beshear describing the flooding as “historic” in an earlier X post. Shelters have opened for residents who’ve had to evacuate.
Beshear, a Democrat, said President Donald Trump approved Kentucky’s emergency declaration on Sunday. He praised the federal response, saying that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had called him Saturday night and offered help. He also said that Trump “signed off on our request as quickly as we have ever seen a president sign off on our request.”
Parts of Kentucky got up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain overnight, said Gregg Gallina, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. The storm also brought severe thunderstorms across the South and snow and ice to the Ohio Valley and Northeast.
“We’ve had every single type of weather you can have and its not even done across the Northeast yet,” Gallina said.
Jim Gray, Kentucky’s transportation secretary, warned that more snow is expected on Tuesday and Wednesday, possibly making flood drainage more challenging.
As of 2:45 p.m. in New York, some 1,000 flights within, out of or into the US were canceled, with Toronto, Boston and Montreal the hardest hit, according to FlightAware, an airline tracking service. At least 481,000 customers are without power from Mississippi to New York, PowerOutage.us said.
Winter storm warnings cover Upstate New York and New England, while flood warnings and watches are posted across the Ohio Valley and tornado watches and severe thunderstorm warnings are following a squall line across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, the National Weather Service said. Wind advisories stretch from New York to Florida.
In Canada, winter storm warnings have been posted across Ontario and Quebec, including Toronto and Montreal, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Source：FINANCIAL POST
