A strong storm has just swept through the state of Kentucky, killing at least 8 people, causing flooding, flooding roads and homes, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear informed. US officials also said that another person died in Georgia due to the impact of a strong storm.
In Kentucky, emergency responders are in the search and rescue phase, with more than 1,000 rescues made in less than 24 hours.
Governor Andy Beshear called the storm that hit the state "one of the most serious weather phenomena we have to deal with in at least a decade."
Video footage recorded in the states of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia shows uprooted trees, vehicles, and homes submerged in floodwaters.
Water levels hit a record high in Kentucky as the storm intensified on February 15. The latest storm to hit the state comes two years after catastrophic flooding killed 43 people and devastated many areas of the state.
Kentucky Eric Gibson said on February 16 that the severe weather phenomenon would " last for another several days." Governor Beshear warned that flooding will continue in the coming days.
Heavy rains and flash floods forced evacuation and caused power outages for hundreds of thousands of customers across many states.
Forecasters in the US say the storm will weaken on February 17. However, some areas in Ngu Dai Ho may have heavy snow.
Across the United States, more than 10 million people from New York to New England are still in the winter storm warning area that runs through the morning of February 17.
The snowfall in northern Maine could reach nearly 60cm. Portland, Maine, are expected to see 7-12cm of snowfall, while Burlington, Vermont, are expected to see 15-30cm of snow, and Bangor, Maine, are expected to see 10-20cm of snow.
According to the US Weather Center, the extremely rare flood risk warning level 4 is in effect for more than 1.5 million people in some areas northwest of Tennessee and western Kentucky.
According to research from the center, such weather events occur on an average of less than 4% of the days of the year, but cause more than 80% of total flood-related damage and 40% of total flood-related deaths.
The extremely rare 4/4 Threat is issued because it sets up an atmosphere for the storm " quite unusually in mid-March" and during the strongest storms can lead to 50 mm/h rain. Up to 150mm of rain could fall on high-risk areas areas that have had heavy rain for long periods. Almost no area can absorb such a large amount of rain without being flooded.
Currently, the 4/4 warning level issued by the US Weather Forecast Center has ended.
