Deadly storms sweep through the South, leaving at least 9 fatalities

A major storm system with a deadly mix of heavy rains, winds and flash 
flooding swept through a large swath of the Southeast overnight, causing 
at least eight fatalities in Kentucky and one in Georgia.

The storms rendered some roads impassable, damaged buildings and knocked 
out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. The National 
Weather Service reported at least one tornado overnight in Alabama, and 
tornado warnings were issued in multiple states.

Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in College 
Park, Md., said the slow-moving storm system dropped significant rainfall 
across parts of Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee during the day Saturday.

Later, a line of thunderstorms that formed overnight moved more quickly 
through the area, dropping less rain but mixing with windy conditions. 
"The high winds across the South caused several reports of damage to 
trees, to homes, so a very impactful event," he said.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a Sunday afternoon press conference 
that at least eight people had been killed in the state during the storm, 
including a woman and child who died in floodwaters. He said he expected 
the number of fatalities to rise. Another person died in Atlanta after a 
tree fell on their home, WANF reported.

Kentucky was slammed by the storm
Beshear said all of Kentucky's 120 counties were impacted by the weekend 
storm. "The biggest challenge of this event is it's everywhere," he said. 
Parts of Kentucky received more than 6 inches of rain.

Beshear said early Sunday afternoon that emergency response crews had 
already conducted more than 1,000 rescues in Kentucky. He urged 
Kentuckians to avoid driving if possible as floodwaters remained and 
search-and-rescue efforts were active. Some 142 people were being housed 
at state parks.

President Trump approved Beshear's request for an emergency disaster 
declaration for Kentucky, which frees up federal funding for impacted 
areas. The governor said he had also spoken with Homeland Security 
Secretary Kristi Noem and that FEMA personnel had been deployed to the 
state.

Some hard-hit areas were still recovering from deadly floods that pummeled 
the area in 2022, WEKU's Stan Ingold reported.

The storms' effects were felt across the South and beyond
Heavy rains in Tennessee drenched some areas with more than 7 inches of 
precipitation. The NWS reported Sunday morning that a levee near the town 
of Rives had failed and caused "rapid onset flooding."

Though the rain had slowed, certain areas affected by the drenching storm 
were expected to receive 1 to 2 inches of snow on Sunday.

Power outages were also widespread. As of Sunday evening, hundreds of 
thousands of people remained in the dark in states including Virginia, 
West Virginia, Georgia and Kentucky, according to the website 
PowerOutage.us.

In addition to widespread road closures, the storm also snarled travel at 
Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. More than 100 
flights were canceled and another 500 were delayed, according to 
FlightAware.com.

The northern end of the same storm system dropped heavy snow in some areas 
of northern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, Oravec added.

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/16/nx-s1-5299218/deadly-storms-sweep-through-
the-south-leaving-at-least-nine-fatalities