Death toll rises to at least 25 in Kentucky flooding: Governor
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Devastating flash floods have killed at least 25 people in the Appalachia region, Kentucky, the worst such disaster there for decades.
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The devastating flood's death toll in Eastern Kentucky has risen to 25 people, including children, as search-and-rescue crews continue searching for survivors and those reported missing.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on Saturday that rescue teams were scrambling to benefit from the drier weather and ebbing floodwaters to find the missing and move survivors to shelters ahead of further rainstorms expected later Sunday.
Read: Disasters are expected to become more common: UN
However, Beshear warned during a news conference of hazardous conditions and cellphone blackouts in many areas, alerting that the death toll will almost certainly rise.
"I'm worried that we're going to be finding bodies for weeks to come," Beshear said, asking the citizens to keep praying, and adding "I hope there are no more, we ought to expect there will be more loss."
Four young siblings, aged 1 to 8, were found among the dead, in Knott County, inhabited by 14,000.
According to an account in the Lexington Herald-Leader, to escape the rising floodwaters, the kids had clambered with their parents onto the roof and clung to tree branches after the roof collapsed. They were swept away by a swell of water.
Catastrophic rainfall hit the region on Tuesday after record-breaking flooding in St. Louis took the life of one person. The fast-moving floods hurtled cars and trucks, closed bridges, washed out roads, and took homes off of their foundations.
While many residents escaped in boats, others were plucked from the disaster by ground or air. National Guard units, state police, and fish and wildlife officers looked for victims by land, air, and boat, and rescued at least 1,432 Kentuckians according to Beshear.
The disaster, which caused landslides and mudslides, caused damage amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, the governor said, adding that rebuilding could take years.
