HINDMAN, Ky. -- Damage to critical infrastructure and the arrival of more heavy rains hampered efforts Sunday to help Kentucky residents hit by recent flooding, Gov. Andy Beshear said.
As residents in Appalachia tried to slowly piece their lives back together, flash flood warnings were issued for at least eight eastern Kentucky counties. The National Weather Service said radar indicated that up to 4 inches of rain fell Sunday in some areas, with more rain possible.
Beshear said the death toll climbed to 28 on Sunday from last week's storms, a number he expected to rise significantly. He also said it could take weeks to find all the victims.
Thirty-seven people were unaccounted for as search-and-rescue operations continued early Sunday, according to a daily briefing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A dozen shelters were open for flood victims in Kentucky with 388 occupants.
Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the U.S. National Guard Bureau, told The Associated Press that about 400 people have been rescued by National Guard helicopters. He estimated that the guard had rescued close to 20 residents by boat from hard-to-access areas.
At a news conference in Knott County, Beshear praised the fast arrival of FEMA trailers but noted the numerous challenges.
"We have dozens of bridges that are out -- making it hard to get to people, making it hard to supply people with water," he said. "We have entire water systems down that we are working hard to get up."
Beshear said it will remain difficult, even a week from now, to "have a solid number on those accounted for. It's communications issues -- it's also not necessarily, in some of these areas, having a firm number of how many people were living there in the first place."
The governor also talked about the selflessness he's seen among Kentucky residents after the floods.
"Many people that have lost everything but they're not even getting goods for themselves, they're getting them for other people in their neighborhoods, making sure that their neighbors are OK," Beshear said.
Among the stories of survival that continue to emerge, a 17-year-old girl whose home in Whitesburg was flooded Thursday put her dog in a plastic container and swam 70 yards to the safety of a neighbor's roof. Chloe Adams waited hours until daylight before a relative in a kayak arrived and moved them to safety, first taking her dog Sandy and then the teenager.
"My daughter is safe and whole tonight," her father, Terry Adams, said in a Facebook post. "We lost everything today ... everything except what matters most."
On an overcast morning in downtown Hindman, about 200 miles southeast of Louisville, a crew cleared debris piled along storefronts. Nearby, a vehicle was perched upside-down in Troublesome Creek, now back within its debris-littered banks.
Attendance was down for the Sunday morning service at Hindman First Baptist Church. Parishioners who rarely miss a service were instead back home tending to cleanup duties caused by floodwaters and mud.
The Rev. Mike Caudill said his church has pitched in to help the reeling community, serving meals and setting up tents for people to pick up cleaning and personal hygiene supplies.
Parts of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10½ inches over 48 hours. About 13,000 utility customers in Kentucky remained without power Sunday, poweroutage.us reported.
President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties.
Last week's flooding extended to West Virginia, where Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six southern counties, and to Virginia, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration that enabled officials to mobilize resources across the flooded southwest portion of the state.
RECORD HIGHS
Seattle and Portland, Ore., set records Sunday for most consecutive days of high temperatures and authorities in Oregon investigated more possible heat-related deaths.
In Seattle, the temperature rose to 91 degrees Fahrenheit by early afternoon, the record sixth-straight day the mercury rose above 90 degrees. In Portland on Sunday, temperatures rose above 95 degrees for the seventh day in a row, a record for the city for consecutive days above that mark.
In Oregon, the state Medical Examiner's Office said Sunday it was investigating 10 deaths as possibly heat-related. In the Portland area, temperatures have risen above 100 degrees several times over the past week.
Officials in Portland said they would keep cooling shelters open through Sunday night.
The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for the Portland and Seattle regions lasting through late Sunday evening. Temperatures were expected to cool beginning today as colder air from the Pacific blows in.
Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts.
Residents and officials in the Northwest have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heat waves following last summer's deadly "heat dome" weather phenomenon that prompted record temperatures and deaths.
About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during that heat wave, which hit in late June and early July of 2021. The temperature hit an all-time high of 116 degrees in Portland.
Information for this article was contributed by Kevin McGill and staff writers of The Associated Press.
Paul Williams, luthery instructor at the Applachian School of Luthery inspects the damage at the workshop and museum in Hindman, Ky., Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
Paul Williams, Luthery Instructor at the Applachian School of Luthery loads instruments he hopes to save that were damaged in the floodwaters of Troublesome Creek into his truck in Hindman, Ky., Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, center, speaks to the media and residents of Knott County that have been displaced by floodwaters at the Knott County Sportsplex in Leburn, Ky., Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, center, answers question from residents of Knott County Ky., that have been displaced by floodwaters at the Knott County Sportsplex in Leburn, Ky., Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
A car lays overturned in Troublesome Creek in downtown Hindman, Ky., Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
In this aerial image, the river is still high around the homes in Breathitt County, Ky., on Saturday, July 30, 2022. Recovery has begun in many of the narrow hollers after historic rains flooded many areas of Eastern Kentucky killing more at least two dozen people. A layer of mud from the retreating waters covers many cars and homes. (Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal via AP)
Phillip Michael Caudill displays a drone photo of his flooded home outside his temporary room at Jenny Wiley State Park in Prestonsburg, Ky., on Saturday, July 30, 2022. The state park is serving a as a shelter for flooding victims. Caudill and his family had to flee their home in Wayland, Ky., early Thursday as floodwaters rushed in when heavy rains pounded eastern Kentucky. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan)
Paul Williams, Luthery Instructor at the Applachian School of Luthery inspects the damage to one of his students projects caused by the floodwaters of Troublesome Creek at the workshop and museum in Hindman, Ky., Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
The high water mark from floodwaters from Troublesome Creek mark the wall below instrument forms hanging on the wall at the Applachian School of Luthery inspects the damage at the workshop and museum in Hindman, Ky., Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)Gallery: Appalachia flooding, 8.1.2022
