LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll from the weekend's torrential rainfall reached 12, announced Monday night.

Earlier Monday, Beshear announced the death toll had risen to 11 after the death of a man in Hardin County and another in Floyd County.

"We must remember, this isn’t just a number — these are Kentuckians who will be missed by their families and loved ones," Beshear posted on X. "Please pray for our commonwealth and our neighbors who have lost people they love."

Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee received up to 6 inches of rain during the weekend storms. Beshear said Sunday there had been around 1,000 rescues due to flooding since storms hit Kentucky, one of the most serious weather events the state has dealt with in the past decade.

"All of Kentucky still has standing water in different areas," Beshear said during a news conference Monday at the Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort. "... So everyone, be careful."

A mother and her 7-year-old child were killed in Hart County when the car they were in was swept away by flood waters near Interstate 65, a county official told WBKO-TV. Hart County Coroner Tony Roberts said the two were swept away Saturday night in the Bonnieville community. In southeastern Kentucky, a 73-year-old man was found dead in floodwaters in Clay County, County Emergency Management Deputy Director Revelle Berry said.

At least 11 people were killed in flooding caused by storms.

In Hardin County, the coroner's office said Thomas Oakes, a 62-year-old man from Elizabethtown, died Sunday. Coroner Pat Elmore said first responders arrived at the 2900 block of Gilead Church Road in Glendale on the report that a car drove into water and got stalled. Elmore said Oakes got out of the car, but EMS was unable to revive him. His official cause of death is pending an autopsy, but Elmore said the preliminary findings suggest he drowned.

The confirmed fatalities statewide, many involving flooding-related issues include:

  • One man in Hart County 
  • Three men in Pike County
  • One woman in Hart County
  • One 7-year-old child in Hart County
  • One woman in Washington County
  • One man in Clay County
  • One person in Nelson County
  • One man in Floyd County
  • One man in Hardin County
Louisville flooding - 2-16-2025

Cars sit in floodwaters at a railroad underpass in Louisville, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Beshear preemptively declared a state of emergency in Kentucky ahead of the storms, where flash flooding was expected into Sunday. And President Trump had approved his request for disaster relief funding.

State officials and local police are encouraging people to stay off the roads. Because, on top of the flooding, Kentucky is expecting more snow later this week, which Beshear said is only going to complicate things.

"Water that's out there — we still have a lot — can freeze," he said. "We're going to see black ice in difference places during both the days and nights and how cold it's going to get."

The Kentucky National Guard has 175 soldiers and airmen actively responding to the ongoing emergency in at least 16 counties. Beshear said more than 14,000 Kentuckians remained without power Monday morning.

Louisville Fire Chief Brian O'Neill said Monday one of the local teams that left for Pikeville but had to take a four-hour detour because of roads that were closed. He said one of the biggest challenges to these weather events is just simply getting resources there. 

"... They'll be going through the hollers there, checking on people, making sure that they inspect homes as the waters are starting to recede," O'Neill said Monday. "They want to make sure that they're checking for anybody that might be in need or any victims."

Flooding in Pikeville is extensive, with the parking lots under water leading up to typically busy shopping centers and the Pikeville High School football field is left in a mess. Louisville Fire and EMS crews, the city's emergency management team were among the crews dispatched to eastern Kentucky to help.

Some of the Louisville area crews helping with this flooding are Louisville Fire and EMS and the city's emergency management. Greenberg said Metro Emergency Services Director Jody Meiman is leading a team in eastern Kentucky. There are also teams from Okolona, Fern Creek, Jeffersontown, Anchorage Middletown and Pleasure Ridge Park to support search and rescue operations.

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