Governor Andy Beshear (00:05):
Well, good morning everyone. I want to start today by thanking everyone here at the Emergency Operations Center and all of our first responders. Our first responders in some instances have been working for two to three days, many without much sleep, and the work that they have done is incredible. We are grateful for the local, the state, the national, and even the crews coming in from other places that are helping our people find safety, and find shelter during what is continuing to be one of the most challenging weather events that we have faced.
(00:41)
We are still in the search and rescue phase of this emergency. We still have multiple different missions that are underway, there are still people that are in harm's way, and it's very important today that we continue to remind folks not to drive through standing water, not to drive around barricades, they are there for a reason. We need to make sure that we are not creating additional emergency situations, so that all of our first responders can focus on those that we know are stranded and need help.
(01:20)
We're praying for everyone impacted, and while we are in the emergency phase, we're already planning for the stabilization phase, the intermediate housing phase. Because of that, we have established the team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund, we established it yesterday to assist those impacted by the floods and severe weather systems. Those who can, please donate at teamkystormrelieffund.ky.gov. The first use of this fund is always to pay for funerals so that families don't have to wait around for reimbursement, they're already going through enough. And we have far too many families, we're announcing more today that have lost a loved one.
(02:01)
The help's needed because we can now confirm 11 fatalities from this event, that number may still grow. That's an addition of two since last night. Those include an adult male in Hardin County, an adult male in Floyd County. I want to quickly go over the weather as it's happened and as we're going to see it, and then we'll give some additional updates on where we are. So if we can, go to the first slide that shows statewide the amount of rain that we've received, a significant amount of rain. And what this chart should show you is, it's impacted all of Kentucky. All of Kentucky still has standing water in different areas, you'll hear in a minute over 300 roads still impacted and closed. So everyone be careful. Many people going back to work today, picking up their kids from school just because those are in, and just because the community is up and active doesn't mean every part of it and every road is safe. So this ought to tell you how hard we were hit, and also the amount of time it's going to take for the water to go down, and some places that might be most of this week.
(03:19)
Let's go to the next one. This tells you that in… Let's go to the historical context slide if we can. This next one that'll come up should tell you how historic that this flooding is. While for parts of Eastern Kentucky, it isn't equivalent to the July, 2022 floods, we saw daily record rainfall set in Frankfurt, Paducah, Bowling Green, London, and Jackson. James, if we could do this one if you see it.
(03:55)
Okay. We've seen major flooding that is either occurring, or has forecast in the Green Rolling Fork and Kentucky Rivers. A flood wash was issued around 3 AM Thursday morning for roughly the entire state. And if we just stay with the slide that we have up now, you can see these are the rivers in Kentucky. The purple areas are the most significant flooding and flooding risks, the red follow that. Again, a statewide event, one of the biggest challenges is that there is impact and damage everywhere.
(04:32)
Just a couple other reminders on the weather, never drive around barricades. I think we've had at least one rescue in Kentucky that was needed because someone drove around barricades and ultimately into water. If the barricades are up, that means it's not safe. And remember, standing water is never safe. Every time that we have to do a rescue based on someone going around to barricade, it's at least the possibility that we're not responding somewhere else, so please help us out. We want to go to the latest winter weather headlines. From Tuesday night to Wednesday night we have another weather event coming into the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, right now, it is for most all of the commonwealth, safe for parts of Northern Kentucky. What this means is water that's out there, we still have a lot, can freeze. We're going to see black ice in different places during both the days and the nights, and how cold it's going to get. And remember, the extra snow we're going to get, if we can go to the next slide, is going to be a challenge for our transportation crews. They're out there, they're working hard, but remember they're also trying to clear roads that are currently closed, they're working on damage that has been done to the roads. The amount of snow predicted and where it's hit has changed since yesterday and unfortunately, the heavier parts now look like they may hit parts of Eastern Kentucky.
(06:03)
Actually, if you get all the way out to Pikeville and you can't see it, the way the slide has come up is going to potentially drop three to six inches there, so an extra big challenge. And it means we're going to have to make sure that we've got everyone who is displaced because of this flooding in a warm place for the days that are coming ahead, including most of this week, that'll be challenging, especially given that at the moment we've got 14,672 people without power. So still dealing with this current emergency situation, and the weather that we have coming is only going to complicate it.
(06:45)
As we look at our operation teams, grateful that we have federal use, our teams in from Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee that are still engaged. As we said yesterday, over 1000 rescues have occurred across Kentucky, the speed of those rescues is thankfully decreasing as the water has either crested or is going down in many areas of the state. But there are still some significant active missions that are going on right now that are very important.
(07:14)
As we just said, 14,672 customers without power, that's gone down and gone down significantly, which means, as always, our crews are out there doing their best to restore power. Where we know it's going to be out the next couple of days, again, very important to make sure those people are safe, and likely out of their house, either with relatives in a state park or another warm dry place.
(07:41)
Water outages. We have 17,245 customers without water. 28,070 are under a boil water advisory, we have one system that's not an operation at all, and 28 systems in limited operations. We have seven wastewater systems not operational. What flooding especially can do, and just the pressure that it puts on these lines is really significant. We have 33 wastewater systems under limited operation, 9 experiencing bypasses, and 6 are experiencing discharges from portions of their collective system.
(08:20)
For the Kentucky National Guard, this is no longer just a Kentucky mission. We're grateful from the support of our closest neighbors as the response efforts expand. Currently, 175 soldiers and airmen are engaged in operations, including four from the Indiana Guard. Today, we'll welcome additional aviation crews from Indiana and Tennessee, strengthening our response and we are grateful for their help. Their mission remains extremely dangerous, yet the guard always answers the call.
(08:50)
During high water operations, two National Guard trucks were overcome by flood and separate missions, it got very dangerous for one set of guardsmen. We are glad that they are safe. One dump truck remains underwater, and is unrecoverable until the waters reside. This shows you how significant that flooding is and was because these are high axle vehicles. Despite the challenge, our guard members remain on the ground, working side by side with our first responders. They'll stay as long as necessary and we appreciate their dedication.
(09:24)
From KSP since the morning of February 15th, their telecommunicators have answered 6,600 calls for service, they continue to help in any and every way, and especially welfare checks are really going to increase as the water subsides. So we know about some that we've lost, and some that we needed to get to the hospital. As the waters come down, KSP and others are going to be going door to door in the hardest hit communities checking on our people. Thankfully, cell phone service has not gone down in many areas, which gives
Governor Andy Beshear (10:00):
Me some hope about what we'll find. Cell phone service went down both after the tornadoes and in the 2022 flooding. So glad that that communication ability has stayed ongoing at least for many of these areas. 143 people are currently being sheltered at four Kentucky State parks and 72 rooms. Jenny Wiley has 90 adults and 23 children, so that's gone down just a little bit. Pine Mountain has two adults and one child. Natural Bridge has 16 adults and nine children. We have Buckhorn open, but with very limited capacity. Right now we have two adults and there's a special way that people will have to go in because of damage. Again, very limited capacity at Buckhorn. We think maybe 16 rooms at the most. We may later open Carter Caves for a specific population. We're working on moving right now, so thank you to our parks for opening their doors and helping our people.
(10:59)
When we look at the state highway closures, Jim, where are we? We have 344 closures. Those are just state and federal roads. Again, we think this is record numbers of road closures across the state, at least 14 from mudslides, three from rock slides. They're in nearly all 120 counties. They are most heavily in western, southern, and southeast Kentucky. Jim will talk in a minute. Check the website that is up for both the closures and the openings because they're working really hard to get these roads open, and that's going to happen in real time across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We got 2300 Department of Highway personnel that are out there focused, that are doing their very best to keep Kentuckians safe, and this is the website GoKy.Ky.gov. You can find the list of road closures and where they're closed, but also the openings will be displayed on that as they become open.
(12:03)
Crews across Kentucky are continuing to monitor high water, signs and barricades, clear slides and debris, assess road damage, but there are going to be challenges, significant challenges for our transportation cabinet, but we ought to view this as for motorists, for our families. There are going to be challenges driving the rest of the week. Remember, lots of water, it's getting really cold so there's ice. Then we're going to have snow that's going to come over and once again, the transportation cabinet workers have about four jobs right now, and they'll be doing their best, but you should expect conditions to be difficult. Receding water can lead to embankment failures, meaning we could have some more rock slides, mudslides, or roads that become dangerous, and two to six inches in parts of Kentucky of snow. If we hit it, could make roads treacherous. Driver's license offices in Prestonsburg, Pikeville, and Manchester are closed today. You can't get to them because of water, so appointments and walk-ins have been canceled. Really important, with the temperatures and with the people without power, we have 12 emergency shelters open. Hopefully we can get those up on the screens.
(13:14)
Breathitt County's Lee College Gymnasium is open. Breathitt County, Jackson City School. Clay County, Paces Creek Elementary School, Clay County, Laurel Creek Church of God. Henderson County Public Library, and The Harbor House of Men. First Baptist Church in Knox County. The Lawrence County Community Center, the Martin County Middle School, McCreary County School Gym, Owen County Senior Center, and New Life Church in Pulaski County. If you're out of power and it's real cold, if you need to plug in those medical devices, please look for one of these emergency shelters where if you need further help, there'll be folks to talk to from local emergency management and others, they can communicate that up to the EOC and we can try to meet all your needs. When we look at our Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, our Department of Juvenile Justice Community Services offices and Harlan Pike and Clay Counties have been flooded and they're inoperable, so we're attempting to locate temporary office locations and employees are contacting juveniles and their families that are typically served in those locations.
(14:25)
The main water source for Breathitt County Juvenile Justice Center has been shut off. That's affected the local juvenile detention center, which will begin using bottled water and is looking for portable showers. The county expects to get it back on within three days, but we know that we're going to need water a lot quicker than that. Good news, the water's been restored at Southeast State Correctional Complex located in Wheelwright. The prison's still operating on a boiled water advisory, but we think that'll be lifted soon. Okay, important reminder from yesterday, when to and when not to call 911. If you have an emergency or life-threatening situation, dial 911 for immediate assistance. If you are worried about your life or in that type of situation, call 911, but if you are not but you have immediate needs, this number and website are where you ought to reach out to.
(15:22)
That's (502) 607-6665. You call that number, (502) 607-6665, if your power is out or inconsistent, no heat or little heat, if you have medical needs or disabilities, no food or unable to cook, no or little drinking water, unable to leave the house, no transportation, phone issues, unable to leave your vehicle, checking on a loved one, and more. Remember, these are the numbers to call. As a reminder, yesterday I signed an executive order that will allow pharmacists to refill emergency prescriptions for 30 days. In other news, we will be applying today to Secretary Noem and President Trump for individual assistance for our people. We now believe that we have enough damage and evidence of enough damage to request that help for our people. If we secure it, it will open up immediate need and cleaning and sanitizing, money that becomes available pretty quickly to our people. Then it will open up the applications for further individual assistance that go up to $42,500.
(16:34)
Finally, from me today, I will be headed to Pikeville at about noon today to tour beginning about 1:00. We'll have a press conference in the Pike County Courthouse at 2:00 PM, hoping after that I'll be able to visit families at Jenny Wiley if we're able to do that today. Finally, we have a significant operation underway involving a couple of apartment complexes. We should have more news on that as the day goes, but I mainly just want to say thank you to everybody out there participating in that mission from multiple states, both helicopters and boat crews, as well as encourage the residents out there, if you're watching to take advantage of that evacuation, we want to get you somewhere safe where you'll be safe in the days to come. With that, I'll turn it over to Secretary Gibson for some additional updates.
Secretary Gibson (17:37):
Governor does a really great job of explaining this operation in whole and I really appreciate his support as this continues to unfold. We know out west, most of those counties have began to stabilize through this event, but as we continue to see the east, half of our state is still in a struggle and we know that and we're here. We're expanding this operation, continuing to open call centers to be ready to take your calls. We've been receiving numerous calls from that number that's been put up and shared, and that's what we need to hear from you, what you need, how we can help you, and so as the east of our state is still in this event, we know that this is going to be a few more days of this initial response, and then we'll start to stabilize and then work through this disaster.
(18:21)
Ongoing operations, just like the governor's told you about, Martin County is a very active area right now. The Tug Fork River is swollen to a very high level and it's threatening a lot of homes there, so we have a lot of our teams that we've brought in from across the state have been asked to respond to that area, most recently, just to get in there and start beginning that relief effort. We have a lot of people that live along the Tug Fork there into that area and that it's a specific area of concern right now. If rescuers come to you or anyone out there is getting this message, please heed their warnings. Know that this is a dangerous situation. Power could be out for some considerable amount of time. There's cold weather coming. This is going to be a little bit longer event than just because the water may recede and you look out and see it going down, doesn't mean this event's over.
(19:09)
The water may go down, but you may be without power and you still may not be able to get down the roads to get to safety or get those relief needs that you may have. So just remember, if those workers are coming to you, it's because we've evaluated your situation from what we hear from the ground, what your local officials are telling us. We want to make sure you know that those rescuers are there to offer you that assistance. We have a lot of people in the state right now doing this work. A huge effort from FEMA, a huge effort coming in from our partner states. Can't say enough about North Carolina sending us teams in. Indiana has sent their conservation officers to help us. We have people in from all of several states, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana. We have a lot of people helping Kentucky right now and I'm just thankful for that. As we continue to go through this event,
Secretary Gibson (20:00):
We know that those guys are really putting in, and gals are putting in a lot of hours doing this work, and it's just continuous for them. Short rest cycles, lots of hard work, so if you see them out there, give an opportunity to say thank you. As we continue to work, we know that our local officials have been in this fight as well. Our local firemen, policemen, emergency managers, EMS, Fish and Wildlife guys from the state of Kentucky rescue squads, and we often don't say their name, but the rescue squads are so important to this mission, along with so many others, Department of Public Health, your local health departments, the local hospitals, everybody's reaching out to help, and this is a statewide effort. This truly is what I consider a huge effort to be underway, and it's your government services working to provide you the resources that you have in these times of need.
(20:51)
And there's so many, I can't even think to mention them all, but the work has been underway since early Saturday and now we're into Monday. So there's been some long hours and a lot of effort, and we know we haven't reached everyone and there may be people that still have unmet needs, and we're trying to get that word from you that you need help so we can get to you with the resources that we have. We're working specifically, like I said, over around that pike in Martin County, our highest needs right now, but we may have others that we haven't even heard from. The portals that the governor has mentioned, the phone numbers, those are going to be open around the clock as we're expanding our call center to take more calls. If you called and we didn't get to your number, it's just because our staff have been inundated, so we know that those call centers are expanding to be able to meet the need for what you all are calling in for.
(21:36)
We will continue to move this event through as the stabilization of Kentucky, the county, start to happen. We'll move into that recovery phase. Our staff on the recovery section can't be forgotten in this effort as they're continuing to map these damages, track all the work that's been done, and then continue to draft these important documents to the governor so that the governor can forward those up for our relief from the federal government. I would ask that you document your damages, be prepared to report those damages in a way that we can paint this picture of how big of an impact this is. This is truly a significant event. We've had these major declarations before with the 22 flooding, the 21 tornadoes, and this one is finding its way into that same kind of list. It is a major issue. We've seen serious damages across the state. Document your damages, be ready to report those, and we'll continue to work on your behalf here at Kentucky Emergency Management, along with your local partners, and we're going to find a way to find you the help you need. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
The governor covered a lot of our transportation topics. I just want to amplify and punctuate a couple of things that he said. Well, especially about high water conditions and these roads that are still blocked, don't enter them. Don't enter those conditions. Turn around, don't drown. Most fatalities occur in vehicles that have gone into these high water conditions. I think I've got a slide. As we are doing the recovery work, we are making a lot of repairs. James, I don't know if you've got that image from that. This is on I-69 in Caldwell County. A rock slide that occurred two days ago has been repaired, and we're already moving traffic there. So this maintenance work and recovery work is underway even as we are preparing for the next round of winter weather. And so I want to thank everybody that we are working with, all of the agencies, including our counties and our cities, and towns around the state, our local officials, where our districts work closely with them, our 12 districts across the state.
(24:09)
Up to 2300 people, more than 2000 from the transportation cabinet and contractors are committed to this event, and I want to acknowledge them and I also want to acknowledge their families. They've been working this event since over the weekend, that front. Now, we've got another front coming in, but they are talented and they are resilient, and they are committed, and I want to acknowledge and thank them. Now, in terms of roads that are reopening that number, the number of closures is still very, very high. 344 is the last count. You can find out about a road closure or reopening at GoKy.Ky.gov, GoKy.Ky.gov. And that's what I've got, Governor. Thank you. Yep.
Governor Andy Beshear (25:20):
Okay. We will open it up to questions. Again, we should have more information on our current evacuation mission here in the next hour or two, but know that there are some really brave people out there that are helping people as we speak. So we'll start in studio or in the EOC with Carolina.
Carolina (25:46):
[inaudible 00:25:57].
Governor Andy Beshear (26:06):
So we believe we have reached many, if not most people that got trapped because of the original water, because of the flash flooding, and have helped most people that have been affected by the rising rivers. There are a couple of rivers that haven't crested yet and that's where the emergency operations are focused, especially in Martin County where we may have a hundred plus people we need to move to a safer place. Thankfully we've done such a good job. Let me say our boat teams, KSP, our guard and everyone else has done such a good job over the last couple of days that we have a whole lot of resources to use where we need them right now. Whereas two days ago we may have had one crew. We probably have three to four, to five right now. And you saw our coordinators who are over here have done a really good job of moving people where we know that the water is going to crest.
(27:06)
Thanks to the National Weather Service, Mike, who's been in here with us. We pretty much know where we need to be moving people in real time to where the next challenges will be. But those that are out there that don't have power and that can't get out of their neighborhood, that 502 number that we put up is the one that they ought to call, and we've got resources to come and get to them again if needed. In many places we may have one road closure, but there's another way to go. We're getting one lane open in a lot of these areas too, and we just need people to be careful. And what I'd add on top of Jim is remember, if you're grateful for all those transportation folks that are helping out during this period, slow down as you go around them because they're doing dangerous work out there in real time. All right, we'll go to Kendall from the Lexington Lexington Herald-Leader. Okay, we'll go to Madison from WLKY.
Madison (28:06):
Hi, Governor. Thank you. Now, you talked a little bit about the number of people who are being housed by state parks currently. Is that an accurate depiction of the total number of people currently displaced throughout the state or do you believe there could be more who maybe just haven't reached out for help?
Governor Andy Beshear (28:22):
Oh, there are absolutely more people displaced in the state than are at our state parks. I feel very comfortable saying hundreds of people across the Commonwealth are currently displaced. How long they will be displaced maybe be different than compared to July of 2022. But we're going to have people that have housing needs and hundreds of people that have housing needs that may go to relatives, may go to friends, may stay in our state parks or other options we put up there for at least this week, and some are going to need housing assistance, whether that looks like our Travel Trailer Program or something else going into the future. But I mean, we've got a hundred and what? 30 something just in our state parks. But no, there are, in my mind, at least several hundred that are displaced in addition to that. Tom from Kentucky Today. Okay-
Tom (29:25):
Here I am.
Governor Andy Beshear (29:26):
… let's go ahead.
Tom (29:28):
I had some problems with the mute button shutting off there, so sorry about that. I've got two quick ones. First of all, when was the last time that all 120 counties were under flood warnings at the same time? And secondly, are you going to extend or amend your executive order with the state of emergency due to the additional snow we're looking at?
Governor Andy Beshear (29:49):
So the state of emergency will stay in place through the duration of this event. I certainly view the snow event as part of the ongoing
Governor Andy Beshear (30:00):
… flooding and damage that's out there. I'll probably need to go talk to FEMA about that afterwards to make sure we're covered. But thankfully we've got somebody from FEMA who used to run this department and we've got a very good partner there. Your second question, Tom?
Tom (30:23):
When was the last time all 120 counties were under flood warnings?
Governor Andy Beshear (30:28):
This forecast is very rare. The forecast that we had ahead of time, and thankfully we had a very good forecast. One of the differences between this flood and July of 2022 is we knew this was coming. We knew it was coming. We had a good idea of how significant it would be. Not entirely where it would hit but certainly that has helped us in many areas. I'd say since I've been governor, having a flood watch or warning in every single county hadn't happened more than a handful of times. So I think part of this forecast was only happens 2% of the time throughout our state. So this is certainly historic in the breadth of how much of Kentucky it's hit. Karyn Czar from WUKY.
Karen Czar (31:22):
Thank you, Governor. I have two as well. The first is: what will the state and FEMA be able to offer storm victims as far as immediate financial needs? And then I was with the Hazard Fire Department yesterday and they had to evacuate their station on Saturday. They're back in, they saved the trucks, but they lost a lot of equipment. You talked about some of the other first responders having difficulties. Do we know exactly how many teams have been affected? And how can the state help them replace those items that they lost?
Governor Andy Beshear (31:54):
We'll try to get count for you. I don't have one now. But we see this in everything from localized flooding to the large-scale flooding. What we often see is other groups chipping in and helping out with some excess equipment. But that all becomes a part of the submissions that we make to FEMA on the public assistance side. So again, we'll be putting together all of that for the public assistance side. Today we'll be applying for the individual assistance. We want to speed up the process whereby people can get help as much as possible. And already having conversations with FEMA about where we'd set up the disaster recovery centers, the other services that we could put in it, tips that we can provide people about their application. We want to be really thoughtful and proactive to help people through the process as much as we can. Shaq Brewster from MSNBC. No? James Pilcher from WKRC. Well,
James Pilcher (33:05):
Good morning, Governor. Thank you for taking the time for questions. First of all, again, reiterating your gratitude from outside agencies. We've got Task Force One coming down here from Cincinnati, Butler County Sheriff's, Burlington Fire Department, Covington Fire Department. Can you talk a little bit about that? And my second question is: Kentucky seems like to be the bullseye for some of these more severe storms that have been coming up more and more. What is causing this? And was there anything long-term that the state can do to mitigate against this longer term? Thank you.
Governor Andy Beshear (33:43):
We are very grateful to all different groups around Kentucky that have come to help, as well as outside. The Northern Kentucky area as well as Cincinnati and parts of Ohio have sent a large number of highly skilled, well-trained personnel, and I guarantee lives have been saved because of their abilities and also because their municipalities, counties, and their state we're willing to send them on a moment's notice. This is one of the additional ways that we're now responding to these disasters.
(34:18)
You're right, we've been through a lot and we've lost a lot of people along the way. We've gotten better every time. From the emergency response to the intermediate housing to the rebuilding. I mean, just our ability to have assets where we knew that there would be flooding around the state ahead of time allowed us to do those 1,000 rescues in about 24 hours. We saw 1,400 rescues in about 48 hours after the July '22 flooding. But this has been a really incredible response by our first responders on the ground and those organizing that response in this EOC. As we build back, we've always got to do it to be more durable and to handle more of these weather events.
(35:04)
It's hard to answer the why on not why more weather disasters are happening. I think we know that climate change is making more weather events happen. But we keep getting hit over and over. And while the why is hard, I think we always see God in the response. Good people, brave people doing the right thing, showing up for their neighbors, hopefully contributing to the Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund. We've got to make sure we're here for every victim and victim's family of this storm but also everybody who's displaced. They deserve as much of our effort as those that were harmed after the tornadoes or that last set of flooding. Our job is to never get tired and to be the good Kentuckians we are after every single one of these events.
(35:54)
Those all of our journalists, James? Okay, I think that's everybody we have. Again, we'll have a press event at 2:00 PM at the Pike County Courthouse. Likely our next update will be tomorrow morning from either here or in the Capitol. We'll be updating through social media and other means. But to everybody watching and being safe in Kentucky, thank you. To everybody else around the country that are watching our plight, we appreciate you. We're grateful for you. We are tough people. We get through things and we get through them together but with your help we can help people to get through it with less harm and back up on their feet that much faster. So thank you, America. But most certainly everybody here in Kentucky, thanks for being good neighbors.