Rescue crews continued to struggle to get into hard-hit areas, some of which are among the poorest in America. Dozens of deaths have been confirmed and the number is expected to rise. In the tiny community of Wayland, Phillip Michael Caudill worked Saturday to clear the debris and recover what he could from the home he shares with his wife and three children. The waters had receded from the house but left a mess behind along with questions about what he and his family will do next. “We’re just hoping we can get help,” said Caudill, who is staying with his family at Jenny Wiley State Park in a spare room for now. Caudill, a firefighter in the nearby community of Garrett, went out to the rescue around 1 a.m. Thursday, but had to ask to leave around 3 a.m. so he could go home, where the waters were rising quickly. “That’s what made it so hard for me,” he said. “Here I am, sitting there, watching my house go under water and you have people begging for help. And I couldn’t help it,” because he was taking care of his own family. The water was up to his knees when he got home and he had to walk across the yard and carry two of his children out to the car. He could barely close the door of his SUV as they drove away. In Garrett on Saturday, flood-soaked couches, tables and pillows were piled in yards along the foothills of the mountain range as people worked to clear debris and shovel mud from roads and streets under now-blue skies. Hubert Thomas, 60, and his nephew Harvey, 37, took refuge at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park in Prestonburg after flooding destroyed their Pine Top home late Wednesday night. The two managed to save their dog, CJ, but fear the damage to the house is beyond repair. Hubert Thomas, a retired miner, said all his life savings were invested in his home. “I have nothing now,” he said. Harvey Thomas, an EMT, said he fell asleep to the sound of light rain and was soon awakened by his uncle warning him that the water was getting dangerously close to the house. “He was coming in and it just got worse,” she said, “like we looked, at one point, at the front door and mine and his cars were playing bumper cars, like bumper boats in the middle of our front. courtyard.” As for what’s next, Harvey Thomas said he doesn’t know, but he’s thankful to be alive. “Highlanders are strong,” he said. “And like I said it won’t be tomorrow, probably not next month, but I think everyone will be fine. It’s just going to be a long process.” At least 25 people have died – including four children – in the flooding, Kentucky’s governor said Saturday. “We continue to pray for the families who have suffered an unfathomable loss,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “Some have lost almost everyone in their home.” Beshear said the toll will likely rise significantly and it could take weeks to find all the victims of the record flooding. Crews have made more than 1,200 rescues from helicopters and boats, the captain said. “I’m concerned that we’re going to be finding bodies for weeks to come,” Beshear said during a lunchtime briefing. The rain stopped early Friday after parts of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches (20-27 cm) over a 48-hour period. However, some waterways were not expected to peak until Saturday. About 18,000 utility customers in Kentucky remained without power Saturday, poweroutage.us reported. It’s the latest in a string of devastating floods to hit parts of the US this summer, including in St. Louis earlier this week and again on Friday. Scientists warn that climate change is making weather disasters more frequent. As rainfall pounded Appalachia this week, water cascaded down hillsides and into valleys and hollows where it swelled creeks and streams that flowed through small towns. The torrent inundated homes and businesses and damaged vehicles. Mudslides threw some people down steep slopes. President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties. Flooding extended into western Virginia and southern West Virginia. Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency in six counties in West Virginia where flooding downed trees, knocked out power and closed roads. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin also declared an emergency, enabling officials to mobilize resources across the flooded southwestern state. The deluge came two days after record rainfall around St. Louis dropped more than 12 inches (31 cm) and killed at least two people. Last month, heavy rain on mountain snow in Yellowstone National Park caused historic flooding and the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. In both cases, the deluge of rain far exceeded what forecasters had predicted. Extreme rain events have become more common as climate change bakes the planet and alters weather patterns, scientists say. That’s a growing challenge for officials during disasters because models used to predict storm impacts are based in part on past events and can’t keep up with increasingly destructive floods and heat waves like these that have recently hit the Pacific Northwest and South Plains. “It’s a battle of extremes going on right now in the United States,” said University of Oklahoma meteorologist Jason Furtado. “These are things we expect to happen because of climate change. … A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor and that means you can create increased heavy rainfall.”
AP reporter Patrick Orsagos contributed to this report.
