The death toll from the floods that hit Kentucky over the last week has risen to six, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday.
Those who have died are, according to Beshear: a 66-year-old Carroll County man, a 9-year-old boy in Franklin County, a 74-year-old woman in Nelson County, a 65-year-old man in Trigg County, a 27-year-old man in McCracken County and a 50-year-old man in Bullitt County.
The state’s Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund will cover the funeral expenses for those lost.
Additionally, at least 70 of Kentucky’s 120 counties have declared states of emergency following the deadly storms. (On Friday, April 4, Mayor James R. Knight Jr. and Christian County Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam declared states of emergency.)
“That means in each of these counties, they believe that there is enough damage, that there was enough flash flooding, storm damage, or river bank flooding to necessitate a state of emergency,” Beshear said during his weekly press conference.
Beshear is asking President Donald Trump’s administration for individual assistance and expects to submit that application Friday, he said.
“We want to make our best case to get that first round in, and then we will add counties after that,” Beshear said. “We’ve been through enough of these, we know that that is the fastest, most effective and most efficient process to do it.”
Meanwhile, the Ohio River at Louisville crested Wednesday at nearly 68 feet, but won’t crest further west for a few days yet. It’s expected to crest at Owensboro on Saturday or Sunday, in Henderson on Sunday, and then in Paducah sometime next week, Beshear said.
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license from Kentucky Lantern, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist and Kentuckian. She has covered everything from crime to higher education. In 2020, she started reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has covered health ever since.
