By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on Sunday that two people died and over 500 roads were closed in the state due to deadly storms and floods, which have also killed over a dozen people in the past week in other states of the U.S. South and Midwest.
“Kentucky, there is record flooding across our state, with over 500 road closures. Rivers have not yet crested, so we still have a day — if not more — of rising waters. We’ve already lost two of our people,” Beshear said on social media platform X.
One of the dead in Kentucky was a 9-year-old boy walking to his school bus stop on Friday morning when he was overtaken by flooding, police in the city of Frankfort said.
Beshear added on Sunday that many homes were evacuated and water supply was limited in the state capital Frankfort, where he said state offices will be closed on Monday.
A deadly spring storm spawned tornadoes and drenching thunderstorms in a swath of the U.S. stretching from Texas to Ohio in the past week.
Tennessee had 10 deaths in this period, according to the local health department. In addition to the two deaths announced by the Kentucky governor, there were also two deaths in Missouri and one each in Arkansas, Indiana and Mississippi, according to local media.
Climate change is bringing heavier rainfall and related flood risks in most parts of the U.S., with the upper Midwest and Ohio River Valley among the regions most affected, according to Climate Central, an independent nonprofit that researches weather patterns.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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