FRANKFORT, Kentucky (AP) 鈥 Days of unrelenting heavy rain and storms that killed at least 18 people worsened flooding as some rivers rose to near-record levels and inundated towns across an already saturated U.S. South and parts of the Midwest.
Cities ordered evacuations and rescue crews in inflatable boats checked on residents in Kentucky and Tennessee, while utilities shut off power and gas in a region stretching from Texas to Ohio.
鈥淎s long as I鈥檝e been alive 鈥 and I鈥檓 52 鈥 this is the worst I鈥檝e ever seen it,鈥 said Wendy Quire, the general manager at the Brown Barrel restaurant in downtown Frankfort, Kentucky, the state capital built around the swollen Kentucky River.
鈥淭he rain just won鈥檛 stop,鈥 Quire said Sunday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been nonstop for days and days.鈥
Officials diverted traffic and turned off utilities to businesses in the city as the river was expected to crest above 49 feet Monday to a record-setting level, said Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson. The city's flood wall system is designed to withstand 51 feet of water.
For many, there was a sense of dread that the worst was still to come.
鈥淭his flooding is an act of God,鈥 said Kevin Gordon, a front desk clerk at the Ashbrook Hotel in downtown Frankfort. The hotel was offering discounted stays to affected locals.
Storms leaving devastating impact
The 18 reported deaths since the storms began on Wednesday included 10 in Tennessee. A 9-year-old boy in Kentucky was while walking to catch his school bus. A 5-year-old boy in Arkansas died after a tree fell on his family鈥檚 home, police said. A 16-year-old volunteer Missouri firefighter died in a crash while seeking to rescue people caught in the storm.
The 好色tv Weather Service warned Sunday that dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach a with extensive flooding of structures, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure possible.
In north-central Kentucky, emergency officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for Falmouth and Butler, towns near the bend of the rising Licking River. Thirty years ago, the river reached a record 50 feet (15 meters), resulting in five deaths and 1,000 homes destroyed.
The storms come after the Trump administration at NWS forecast offices, leaving half of them with of about 20%, or double the level of a decade ago.
Why so much nasty weather?
Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong winds and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.
The NWS said 5.06 inches (nearly 13 centimeters) of rain fell Saturday in Jonesboro, Arkansas 鈥 making it the wettest day ever recorded in April in the city. Memphis, Tennessee, received 14 inches (35 centimeters) of rain from Wednesday to Sunday, the NWS said.
Rives, a northwestern Tennessee town of about 200 people, was almost entirely underwater after the Obion River overflowed.
Domanic Scott went to check on his father in Rives after not hearing from him in a house where water reached the doorstep.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first house we鈥檝e ever paid off. The insurance companies around here won鈥檛 give flood insurance to anyone who lives in Rives because we鈥檙e too close to the river and the levees. So if we lose it, we鈥檙e kind of screwed without a house,鈥 Scott said.
In Dyersburg, Tennessee, dozens of people arrived over the weekend at a storm shelter near a public school clutching blankets, pillows and other necessities. Just days earlier the city was hit by a tornado that caused millions of dollars in damage.
Among them was George Manns, 77, who said he was in his apartment when he heard a tornado warning and decided to head to the shelter. Just days earlier the city was hit by a tornado that caused millions of dollars in damage.
鈥淚 grabbed all my stuff and came here,鈥 said Mann, who brought a folding chair, two bags of toiletries, laptops, iPads and medications: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 leave them in my apartment in case my apartment is destroyed."
For others, grabbing the essentials also meant taking a closer look at the liquor cabinet.
In Frankfort, with water rising up to his window sills, resident Bill Jones fled his home in a boat, which he loaded with several boxes of bottles of bourbon.
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Izaguirre reported from New York. Kruesi reported from Nashville. Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; Tennessee; Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Obed Lamy in Rives, Tennessee; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.
