Flooding that swept parts of Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia this week has left four dead and five missing in the Bluegrass state where more flash flooding and downed power lines complicated searches in hard hit Johnson County.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear declared a state of emergency to speed money and resources to local authorities,
NBC News reported, and National Guard troops have been called in.
The four dead were 56-year-old Herman Eddie May Sr., 74-year-old Willa Mae Pennington, 22-year-old Richard Blair, and an unidentified 67-year-old man,
according to The Associated Press.
May had gotten to high ground, but he returned to his vehicle in an effort to save his daughter and two grandchildren. His car, however, stalled as the water level rose and he was swept away when he got out of the vehicle.
“He always said he would die trying to protect his family, and that's exactly what he did,” his daughter Amy Akers told the AP.
Two of the five missing were men who were seen being swept off by flood waters, Trooper Steven Mounts told reporters.
One of the missing is 34-year-old Scott Johnson, who was last seen trying to save his family Monday in the midst of the flash flooding. Johnson had successfully gotten his father, his uncle, and his sister to safety, but immediately after wedging a teenage family friend into a high tree, waters swept him and Pennington, his grandmother, away.
“We told him, ‘You can't make it,’” his father Kevin Johnson told the AP. “He said, ‘I’m going to get her out of that trailer.’”
Mud, rain, and debris have made it particularly difficult to search.
An estimated 150 homes were destroyed in the flooding and hundreds of others have been damaged.
“I think all of us who are here and who have seen this in person recognize this as a truly devastating natural disaster,” said Kentucky Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen. “People have lost everything.”
Some 50 National Guard troops arrived Wednesday and are assisting first responders in the efforts to find the missing persons,
WSAZ reported.
Johnson County Emergency Management Director Gary McClure told the station that although thunderstorms caused some flash flooding Tuesday night, waters have receded.
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