This photo, provided by Warren County, Kentucky, shows a vehicle partially submerged outside Bowling Green, Kentucky on Saturday, February 15th, 2025.
Warren County Sheriff’s Office via the AP
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Severe floods throughout Kentucky have wreaked havoc, leading to more than 1,000 rescues as emergency teams compete to help people trapped in waters. At least eight confirmed deaths have been confirmed, and officials warn that deaths are likely to increase as search and rescue and rescue efforts continue.
“This is one of the most serious weather events we’ve dealt with in at least a decade,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Besher said Sunday.
Reported deaths have arisen from several counties, including Hard, Pike and Clay, and there have been many incidents involving vehicles trying to navigate the flood. Beshear emphasized the importance of leaving the road to prevent further loss of life.
The mother and her 7-year-old were killed in Kentucky when the car they were in was wiped out by a flood in Hart County near Interstate 65, county officials told WBKO-TV. Hart County Coroner Tony Roberts said the two were wiped out in the Bonniville community on Saturday night. In southeastern Kentucky, a 73-year-old man was found dead in a flood in Clay County, said Rebel Berry, the county assistant director of emergency management.
About 40,000 residents have no electricity, 9,800 service connections have no water, and 26,000 people are under the boiling water advisory, authorities said at a press conference on Sunday. The Pike County School District announced on Sunday that it will be closed until notification.
Besher said on Sunday that President Trump has approved a request for disaster relief funds.
Many in the US faced another round of winter weather that chewed on Sunday. The Northern Plain faced a life-threatening cold, with tornado clocks issued in parts of Georgia and Florida.
Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee received up to six inches of rain during the weekend storm, said Bob Olabeck, senior forecaster for the National Weather Service.
“The effects have continued for a while, with many swollen streams and many flooding,” Olabeck said on Sunday. “Every time there is a flood, the flood can last much longer than the rain.”
The embankment in Rivas, Tennessee, failed Saturday afternoon and flooded nearby neighborhoods, the weather department reported. It is unknown how many people were affected.
The car is sitting in a flood of railway underground passages in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday, February 16th, 2025.
Timothy D. Easley | AP Photo
The National Weather Service said a severe storm has been wiped out in parts of Florida and Georgia where tornado clocks are in effect.
In Atlanta, people were killed when “very big trees” fell into their homes early Sunday, according to Atlanta Fire and Rescue Commander Scott Powell. He told reporters that firefighters had been sent just before 5am, just after the 911 call.
Elsewhere, cold bones are expected in the cold North Plains to Negative F in the 30s near the Canadian border. A dangerous wind chill temperature of 50 f is expected from Dakotas and Minnesota 40 F (minus 40 Celsius).
Heavy snow was expected in parts of New England and upstate New York. In some areas, gusts of winds could reach 60 mph, creating “dangerous whiteout conditions,” the NWS said.
Kentucky is facing serious flooding
It blocked Kentucky’s submerged vehicles and buildings and Virginia’s roads until the end of Saturday. Both states were flood warnings along with Tennessee and Arkansas.
Chilly temperatures replaced heavy snowy rain with snow early Sunday mornings in parts of Kentucky.
On Sunday, February 16th, 2025, roads were closed due to floods in Louisville, Kentucky.
Timothy D. Easley | AP Photo
Governor Beshear declared a state of emergency in Kentucky ahead of the storm.
The Kentucky River Medical Center in Jackson had closed its emergency department and had moved all patients to two other hospitals in the area. The hospital said it would reevaluate the conditions on Sunday morning to determine when it could safely reopen. The North Fork on the Kentucky River had predicted a coat of arms that afternoon, almost 14 feet above the flood stage, the Weather Service said.
Photos posted by authorities and residents on social media show underwater cars and buildings in the southwest and eastern Kentucky. In Buchanan County, Virginia, the sheriff’s office said multiple roads were blocked by landslides.
Kentucky’s Simpson County Emergency Management Department said authorities have provided several rescues from stagnant vehicles in the flood.
“I’ll stay home if possible,” the office said on Facebook.
