Updates on E. Ky. floods: Death toll increases again, includes several children

Recovery and rescue efforts are still ongoing in Eastern Kentucky after devastating floods destroyed small communities across the region on Thursday.

Here’s the latest of what we know about the floods.

More deaths reported in Breathitt, Perry counties

8p.m. — At least 25 people are now confirmed dead as a result of the flooding.

In Breathitt County, Coroner Hargis Epperson said three bodies had been recovered in the past six or seven hours. He said a dozen more people are missing.

“There could be more. We just don’t know,” he said. “There’s areas that we still can’t access.’

Epperson said crews hope to go house to house Saturday to continue searching for people.

“It’s hard to explain how much water,” he said. “It flooded places where it has never ever flooded.”

The death toll in Perry County stood at four people as of Friday night, said Jerry Stacy, the county’s emergency management director. However, on Saturday, Gov. Andy Beshear said there were three fatalities in Perry County, while four people had been found dead in Breathitt County.

Stacy said he knew of six to eight people who had been reported missing, and “there’s potentially more,” he said.

While the search and rescue operation continued Friday and was expected to resume early Saturday, Stacy said the county was also dealing with a widespread water outage, and power remained out to the hardest hit areas.

Beshear confirms deaths of missing children in Knott County

2:15 p.m. – Beshear confirmed that the bodies of the four Knott County children swept away from their parents’ grip in the deadly Kentucky flooding Thursday have been recovered.

Brittany Trejo told the Herald-Leader the children’s names were Riley Noble Jr., 6, Nevaeh Noble, 4, Maddison Noble, 8, and Chance Noble, 1 ½.

Beshear didn’t provide an official update on the death toll during his afternoon press briefing, but said the number could fluctuate for the next several weeks. Beshear confirmed six children have been killed. At a news briefing Saturday, Beshear said he had been incorrect, and two of the six fatalities originally reported as children were actually adults.

More deaths reported in Knott County

1 p.m. — The Knott County Coroner’s Office confirmed to the Herald-Leader that there are now 14 deaths in the county relating to the eastern Kentucky floods, raising the state’s death toll to 19.

Gov. Andy Beshear previously said in a Friday press conference that 11 people were killed in Knott County and the overall death toll was 16. Beshear also said he expects that number to rise as search efforts continue and communications methods are restored.

Among the dead in Knott County are two children, a 63-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman, per Beshear.

Flood water receding near Panbowl Dam

11 a.m. — The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 10 is reporting that flood water near the Panbowl Dam is receding.

However, Kentucky 15 in Jackson is still closed. The roadway is open between Hazard and Jackson, but the southbound lanes are blocked by floodwaters approximately two miles north of Jackson, the transportation cabinet said.

Death toll rises to 16, Beshear says

10:30 a.m. — In his latest press conference on Friday, Gov. Andy Beshear said 16 people have been killed by the devastating floods in eastern Kentucky.

11 of those deaths are from Knott County, including two children, a 63-year-old man and a 65-year-old female, Beshear said. Two died in Letcher County, a 79-year-old man and a 65-year-old female; two died in Clay County and one died in Perry County.

Beshear said the death toll is going to get a lot higher.

“I want to thank coroners from all over Kentucky that are pitching in to help as well as our national guard that is transporting bodies as we find them so that we can identify them,” Beshear said.

10 shelters open for flood victims

10:30 a.m. — Gov. Andy Beshear said 10 shelters are open for flood victims without a home.

Four of the shelters are being provided by the Red Cross and the other six are independent. Jenny Wiley, Pine Mountain and Buckhorn state parks are also being used as shelters, Beshear said.

Beshear said 337 people are using the shelters.

Biden approves disaster declaration for Eastern Kentucky

9:30 a.m. — President Joe Biden declared the major flooding event in Eastern Kentucky a major disaster Friday and ordered federal aid to the area for recovery efforts.

The federal funds are available for Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Owsley, Perry, Pike, and Wolfe Counties, according to the White House. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for the entire commonwealth.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in the affected areas, the White House said. FEMA said 16 boats and 64 urban search & rescue team members are assisting local officials with rescuing operations.

Death toll rises to 15, Beshear says

8:25 a.m. — Gov. Andy Beshear has confirmed that the death toll surrounding the catastrophic floods in Eastern Kentucky now sits at 15.

Beshear initially confirmed the news to AP and later sent out a tweet about the news.

“That number is going to grow, probably to more than double,” Beshear said. “We know some of the loss will include children, we may have even lost entire families.”

An exact location of those deaths is not immediately known, but there have been seven confirmed deaths in Knott County and one in Perry County.

In Clay County, Brian Jackson, deputy director of Clay County Emergency Management said law enforcement agencies are responding to two “probable” drowning deaths, but those have not been confirmed.

The Mountain Eagle reported at least two people were dead in the Isom area of Letcher County.

Beshear said officials conducted approximately 50 air rescues and hundreds of water rescues of people stranded in the floods.

Water levels in Eastern Kentucky setting records

8 a.m. – According to data from the National Weather Service, the water level of the North Fork Kentucky River in Whitesburg reached 20.91 feet at 10 a.m. Thursday, which broke the previous record by over six feet. The old record stood since 1957.

The water level eclipsed 10 feet, which is the stage where flooding begins in low lying areas , between 5:15-5:30 a.m. Thursday. The previous water level record of 14.7 feet was broken less than two hours later when the water level reached 14.89 feet.

Water level records at the North Fork Kentucky River in Jackson were also broken early Friday morning. The water level went above the previous record of 43.1 at 11:30 p.m. Thursday. The old record had stood from 1939.

Evacuation underway near lake

6:30 a.m. — With more rain in the forecast and a potential for extra flooding, evacuation orders for some Eastern Kentucky communities have been issued.

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet’s Division of Water officials recommended that homes and businesses in the floodplain of Panbowl Lake in Jackson be evacuated. Records indicate there are over 100 homes, 13 businesses, two churches, a school and a hospital that could be impacted by the flooding, per the KEEC.

Officials observed a muddy discharge at the Panbowl Lake dam, which kickstarted the recommendation to evacuate along with recent heavy rains. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said Kentucky 15 at mile-marker 17.7 was blocked off at 9:30 p.m. Thursday as a precaution.

“The most appropriate action we can take right now is to do everything we can to keep residents safe,” Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman said.

Officials in Martin ordered mandatory evacuations for anyone living in flood prone homes, specifically Crackbottom Road, Dinwood Road, Dingus Bottom Road, Brawley Street and the Nelson Frazier Funeral Home area.

Rain expected to stop Friday, Saturday

6:30 a.m. — The National Weather Service branch in Jackson is predicting that rain in the area will stop for a couple of days.

Friday and Saturday are expected to be dryer, cooler days, which will help with rescue and recovery efforts. However, rain is expected to return Sunday through Tuesday, with the heaviest rain projected to come Sunday and Monday.

“Central and Eastern Kentucky remain in a flood watch today. While rain totals are not expected to be as high, flooding still remains a concern due to saturated grounds. Please stay safe and alert, Kentucky,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a tweet.

Thousands without power out east

6:30 a.m. — According to poweroutages.us, over 20,000 residents in Kentucky are without power, virtually all of which are a result of the flooding in Eastern Kentucky.

Over half of the state’s outages come from Knott and Letcher Counties, where 5,433 and 7,643 are without power, respectively. 3,963 are without power in Perry County, 1,625 are without power in Breathitt County, 1,147 are without in Pike County and 1,025 are without power in Leslie County.

Lexington Fire Department aiding in rescue, evacuation efforts

6:30 a.m. – According to Maj. Jessica Bowman with the Lexington Fire Department, Lexington firefighters helped evacuate nine patients out of the Three Rivers Medical Center Thursday evening as high water was expected to rise in the area Thursday night, Friday morning.

Patients were transported in the fire department’s mobile ambulance bus, which is equipped with oxygen, air conditioning and other medical equipment. Bowman said firefighters will coordinate with regional EMS services to send patients to other local hospitals.

As of 9 p.m. Thursday, Bowman said Lexington firefighters rescued a total of 60 people in Eastern Kentucky.

Herald-Leader reporter Karla Ward contributed to this report.