JACKSON, Ky. - Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard searched Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America.
Kentucky’s governor said 15 people have died, a toll he expected to grow as the rain keeps falling."We’ve still got a lot of searching to do," said Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Kentucky’s hard-hit Perry County. "We still have missing people."Powerful floodwaters swallowed towns that hug creeks and streams in Appalachian valleys and hollows, leaving vehicles in useless piles, crunching runaway equipment and piles of debris against bridges and swamping homes and businesses.
Mudslides on steep slopes left many people marooned and without power and made rescues more difficult.RELATED: How to help victims of the devastating flash floodsGov.
Andy Beshear told the AP before touring the disaster area that the 15 dead in Kentucky includes children, "but I expect that number to more than double, probably even throughout today."JACKSON, KY - JULY, 28: Homes along Gross Loop off of KY-15 are flooded with water from the North Fork of the Kentucky River. (Photo by Arden S.