- A powerful storm system caused 20 deaths in five different states.
- Devastation largely came from flood due to heavy rain in multiple states.
- The storm system also spawned dozens of tornadoes.
A powerful storm system which brought floods and tornadoes across multiple states last week killed at least 20 people.
The storm system swept across the central and southeastern U.S. and over five days caused damage and destruction in parts of 19 states.
Rains continued on Monday as the storm moved southeast and it is expected to move out to sea by Tuesday, per The New York Times. The water left behind by the storm is enough to keep rivers and streams swelling for a few days after the storm moves on.
So far most of the damage has been caused by floodwaters from overflowing bodies of water that surged through streets and flooded buildings. Riverside cities and towns were the hardest hit.
Devastating impact from the storms
There have been 20 reported deaths since last Wednesday, and 10 of those were in Tennessee, caused by floods and tornadoes, per USA Today.
The deaths have been caused by falling trees, crashes and people getting caught up in floodwaters.
On Monday, there were more than 500 state roads still closed in Kentucky, with over 1,000 people without access to water and around 3,000 under boil water advisories. At least 20 water systems in the state were impacted, per The Associated Press.
A tornado that ravaged the town of Selmer, in McNairy County, Tennessee, caused the destruction of more than 100 structures, per The AP. Five deaths have been confirmed from the severe weather in the county.
Flooding and swollen rivers
Flood threats were high in multiple states, including Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee and Indiana as heavy rains overwhelmed waterways, per The AP.
Dozens of rivers from Arkansas to Indiana were flooded on Sunday, causing threats to infrastructure such as bridges, levees and sewer and water systems, per The New York Times.
Multiple cities in Kentucky and Tennessee ordered evacuations as rescue crews in inflatable boats checked on residents. Utilities shut off power and gas in many places that were impacted.
The flood stage for the Kentucky River close to Monterey was 33 feet on Monday morning, according to USA Today. It is expected to crest at 57 feet on Tuesday morning, breaking the record by three inches.
Kentucky’s capital city of Frankfort was swamped with water from the Kentucky river on Sunday.
A flood warning was still in place on Monday for the Ohio River at Cincinnati, which is expected to crest at more than 60 feet before falling below the flood stage later in the week.
Heavy rain across multiple states
Flooding was caused by heavy rains across the region.
15 inches of rain was reported between Tuesday and Sunday in the area around Benton in western Kentucky, according to The New York Times. In the same amount of time Memphis, Tennessee received more than a foot of rain and some areas northeast of the city were hit by almost 16 inches.
Multiple areas stretching from Central Arkansas through the boot hill of Missouri and into the Ohio River Valley received totals of eight to 11 inches of rain.
As the storm continues through Monday and Tuesday, it is predicted that the heaviest remaining rain will drop in Alabama and northwestern Florida.
Dozens of tornadoes came along with the storm
Last Wednesday, the devastating storm system spawned dozens of tornadoes from southern Arkansas to northern Indiana, per The New York Times.
So many tornadoes were reported around the same time that some National Weather Service offices delayed reporting them. There were also some city warning sirens that exhausted their batteries due to the high number of tornado warnings and alerts issued.