Flooding in areas across the eastern United States has resulted in the deaths of at least three people.
Heavy rains have fallen on residents in western and northern Tennessee, southern Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia, Fox Weather reported on Friday.
Floodwaters swept a vehicle carrying two people off a roadway late Saturday and one of the occupants was seven years old whom the coroner later pronounced dead, officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
“The second victim has yet to be located, and a search was underway to locate them. No other information was immediately available,” the outlet noted, adding, “The third death occurred in Clay County, Kentucky, where the coroner’s office said a 73-year-old man was reportedly knocked off his feet by rushing floodwaters and was killed.”
Video footage shows the floodwaters in the Clay County area:
In a social media post early Sunday, Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) thanked President Donald Trump for approving his request for an emergency disaster declaration.
“Now federal funding is available to impacted areas, helping us better respond and support affected Kentuckians,” he wrote:
Authorities have declared numerous roads impassable for residents in western and northern Tennessee, southern Kentucky, and the West Virginia-Virginia border, per the Fox article. The outlet said rainfall was reportedly over five to eight inches with more expected.
Officials in Louisville and the surrounding areas are urging drivers to stay off the roads, per WHAS 11.
“Metro Police said the River Patrol and Dive Team Swift Water technicians have been responding and helping fire departments with water rescues. First responders have completed nearly 30 water rescues so far,” the outlet reported on Friday.
More video footage shows the flooding in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia:
Another hazard of the heavy rainfall was mudslides and rockslides. In Dawson Springs, Kentucky, boulders rolled onto Interstate 69, per the Fox article.
“Rock slide at the 87mm north bound I69. This is approximately 3 miles from the Hopkins county line. Please use caution in this area as the state highway department is in route to start the clean up,” the police department wrote in its post:
~~TRAFFIC HAZARD ALERT~~Rock slide at the 87mm north bound I69. This is approximately 3 miles from the Hopkins county…
Posted by Dawson Springs Police on Saturday, February 15, 2025
In another post on Sunday, Beshear said the flooding was ongoing and evacuations were still taking place. He then urged residents who were forced to travel to be careful.
According to Fox, “NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center issued its most dire Level 4 flash flood threat rating of ‘extreme’ for parts of northwestern Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky, but it was communities along the West Virginia-Virginia border that appeared to be the hardest hit by the flooding.”