In Kentucky, Rescuers Scramble To Reach People Trapped By Flash Floods

By Scott Neuman / NPR

Published April 4, 2015 at 4:50 AM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

A woman and a young boy walk along a wall of the Guardian Court Apartments as high water forced some to leave their homes after heavy rains of up to seven inches caused flash flooding in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday.

Vehicles sit in high water after heavy rains caused by the flooding in north and central Kentucky.

Simone Wester and her 7-month old son Jeremiah walk through the flood waters outside her apartment building at the Guardian Court Apartments in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday.

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Rescue teams with the Okolona Fire Protection District rescue a family stuck in the Guardian Court apartment complex Friday, on Friday.

An abandoned vehicle is partially submerged along Pompeii Road after the Red River flooded some of the land surrounding Clay City, Ky., on Thursday.

Rescuers in north and central Kentucky were trying to reach people trapped by a sudden flash flood that followed torrential downpours on Thursday and Friday.

In Lee County, about 50 miles southeast of Lexington, authorities were searching for a mother and daughter swept away as rescue workers were trying to reach them, The Associated Press reports. It was one of about 160 rescues prompted by the heavy rainfall, the AP says.

The Courier-Journal reports on Donna Whitehouse, 54, who had just put away groceries she'd purchased for Easter dinner "when she noticed water coming in under her door."

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"She forgot about the carrot cake and ham to feed her children and grandchildren, grabbed three plastic bags and filled them with spare clothes and medicine, and with her son, unplugged electronics and headed to the building's second floor to await rescuers."'Everything got left behind,' she said quietly, her shoulders hunched in an oversized coat as she sat on a cot in a Red Cross shelter at Broadbent Arena at the State Fairgrounds. 'It's a disaster. It's just something you can't help.'"

According to the AP:

"As rain pushed through parts of the South and Midwest, severe thunderstorms were also blamed for the death of a woman who was camping with her family at Natural Bridge State Resort Park in eastern Kentucky. "Meanwhile, thousands of people in south central Kansas lost power amid winds that reached nearly 90 mph downed trees and damaged buildings overnight and early Friday, and a possible tornado was being investigated in Oklahoma."