At least 28 people have died in the floods that have hit eastern Kentucky, according to the latest update from the state. And Kentucky’s Governor warns the death toll is going to get much worse in the coming days and weeks.
“We’re going to be finding bodies for weeks, many of them swept hundreds of yards, maybe a quarter-mile plus from where they were last,” Gov. Andy Beshear said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
The flooding started Thursday of last week and the official death toll by Friday had already reached 16 people. And not only will more people be found dead from this flooding in the future, the poorest are going to be disproportionately impacted, a common result of a rapidly changing climate that’s driving more devastating flooding events around the globe.
“This is one of the most devastating deadly floods that we have seen in our history,” Gov. Beshear said on Sunday. “It wiped out areas where people didn’t have that much to begin with.”
Viewers can click through to see more heartbreaking photos from the floods of the past few days.