Kentucky's floods have been devastating. Timing is a key reason, an expert says.
A historic deluge that battered eastern Kentucky last week was so devastating because it flooded the region when people were asleep — and because rainfall
A historic deluge that battered eastern Kentucky last week was so devastating because it flooded the region when people were asleep — and because rainfall rates and locations are hard to pinpoint until a downpour happens, the state’s climatologist said.
"The biggest danger that came with this flooding is that most of the rain happened very quickly, very heavily and overnight," said State Climatologist Megan Schargorodski, who also directs the Kentucky Climate Center at Western Kentucky University.
A couple carry belongings away from their house to save them from floodwaters from the Kentucky River in Jackson, Ky., on Thursday.Leandro Lozada / AFP via Getty ImagesAs of Monday, 37 people had died in the floods, and "so many more" remain missing, Gov. Andy Beshear said.
"Let us pray for these families and come together to wrap our arms around our fellow Kentuckians," he said.
Geography contributed to the devastation, with Appalachia’s complex terrain causing waterways and low-lying areas to quickly become inundated, Schargorodski said.
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