Kentucky declares state of emergency amid flooding

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) declared a state of emergency as historic amounts of rainfall spurred widespread flooding throughout the state Wednesday.

“The town of Mayfield, which has already been through too much, has had significant rain and likely significant damage. For all the communities that have been impacted, I am now signing a state of emergency,” Beshear said in a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday.

Western Kentucky has seen waves of thunderstorms that are blanketing cities like Mayfield in water, prompting several water rescues across the area.

Graves County, which is home to the city of Mayfield, has seen 11.28 inches of rainfall from 12 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, which would break the 24-hour rainfall record for the state if verified, according to the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. The previous 24-hour record was 10.48 inches in 1997 in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the NWS.

Mayfield is still recovering from an EF4 tornado that left 80 people dead in December 2021.

“Major flooding like many have never seen is occurring,” the Graves County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a post on Facebook early Wednesday morning. The office also shared photos of washed-out roads now closed due to the storm.