Mud, rain, debris, hamper search for Kentucky flood victims
Source: AP
By BRUCE SCHREINER and DAVID STEPHENSON
FLAT GAP, Ky. (AP) As the Johnson family dug through the wreckage where their trailers once stood, they found a mud-soaked box of family photos, cherished heirlooms and a tiny porcelain statue of Jesus, but not what they were looking for.
Scott Johnson, 34, was swept away two days ago, trying to save his grandmother as a flash flood Monday ravaged this rural eastern Kentucky community.
He is still missing. Three others are confirmed dead, and the fate of four more remains uncertain. Families reported them missing, but they could be stranded in their homes, without power or phone service.
Rescue teams are slogging through knee-deep mud, door-to-door, across the rugged Appalachian terrain, painting orange "X''s on each structure they search. Desperate families roam the banks of the swollen creek, looking for their lost loved ones.
FULL story at link
Residents of a mobile home park look for belongings after deadly flooding in Flat Gap, Ky., Tuesday, July 14, 2015. Flash floods in northern Johnson County outside of Paintsville destroyed homes and vehicles and residents were reported missing a day after the floods. (AP Photo/David Stephenson)
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2961c1e152c24f15a29210f734daf5ac/mud-rain-debris-hamper-search-kentucky-flood-victims
shenmue
(38,506 posts)passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)climate change is creating great chaos.
get the red out
(13,468 posts)The county seat, Paintsville, would slowly flood every 20 years or so until a lake and a dam were built, but I can't wrap my mind around how fast all that water came pouring out of the hills.
Kentucky usually has drought worries in July. If this isn't climate change, I don't even understand the definition of the term. Not only the flooding but tornadoes have been raking through the state this month too. And we had two giant snow storms within a week, late in the winter.
I am glad people here in Lexington have stepped up to send help to our fellow Kentuckians just two hours down the road.
Gormy Cuss
(30,884 posts)I hope that the dead are recovered soon.