Some mountainous areas in eastern Kentucky remain inaccessible after flooding that turned some roads into rivers, washed away bridges, swept away homes and killed at least 28 people, according to a new toll from authorities.
Damage to mobile phone antennas complicated rescue efforts and estimating the number of dead and missing.
“These floods are some of the most devastating, deadliest we have ever seen,” Governor Andy Beshear said on NBC. "And when we try to clear away, it's raining!"
“We will go door to door to try to locate as many people as possible,” he said. "We will be finding bodies for weeks, many of which will have been carried hundreds of meters."
The governor visited flooded areas in three counties on Sunday. In areas affected by the rains, more than 350 people are sheltering in temporary shelters, he said.
In the city of Jackson, in the center of the most heavily affected area, rescuers and volunteers gathered Sunday morning in the parking lot of a Walmart hypermarket before deploying.
Some were handing out bottled water. On a boat tied to a trailer was written "FEMA Rescue 4", a sign that rescuers from the US Disaster Management Agency were on site.
- Risk of flash floods -
Under heavy black clouds heralding new rains, the streets were covered in a thick layer of mud.
The floods hit a region whose economy was already devastated by the decline of the mining industry, its main resource.
"They wiped out areas where people already didn't have much," Beshear said.
Some parts of Kentucky received some 20 centimeters of rain in 24 hours and, in places, the waters of the rivers suddenly rose several meters before breaking their banks.
The National Weather Services announced on Sunday a new risk of flooding in the central-eastern United States, including in Kentucky.
"The threat of flash flooding will continue through the afternoon and early evening due to showers and thunderstorms," the latest forecast said.
President Joe Biden declared a state of "natural disaster" and released federal reinforcements to support areas affected by "storm, flooding, landslides and mudslides".
These floods are the most recent manifestations of extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent with human-induced global warming.
In December, several dozen violent tornadoes ravaged five states in the center of the United States, mainly western Kentucky, and killed at least 79 people.
