Swollen rivers flood towns in US South after dayslong deluge of rain

By JON CHERRY KIMBERLEE KRUESI and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press FRANKFORT Kentucky AP Days of unrelenting heavy rain and storms that killed at least people worsened flooding as several 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 As long as I ve been alive and I m this is the worst I ve ever seen it announced Wendy Quire the general manager at the Brown Barrel restaurant in downtown Frankfort Kentucky the state capital built around the swollen Kentucky River Abner Wagers right and Brayden Baker both with the Monterey Volunteer Fire Department walk in the rising waters of the Kentucky River near a flooded home in Monterey Ky Sunday April AP Photo Carolyn Kaster The rain just won t stop Quire disclosed Sunday It s been nonstop for days and days Functionaries diverted traffic and turned off utilities to businesses in the city as the river was expected to crest above feet Monday to a record-setting level noted Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson The city s flood wall system is designed to withstand feet of water For multiple there was a sense of dread that the worst was still to come This flooding is an act of God noted 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 revealed deaths since the storms began on Wednesday included in Tennessee A -year-old boy in Kentucky was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus A -year-old boy in Arkansas died after a tree fell on his family s home police declared A -year-old volunteer Missouri firefighter died in a crash while seeking to rescue people caught in the storm A group of people survey damage at Pounders Mobile Home Park following a strong line of storms in the area in Muscle Shoals Ala Sunday April Dan Busey The TimesDaily via AP The National Weather Organization warned Sunday that dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach a major flood stage with extensive flooding of structures roads bridges and other critical infrastructure accomplishable In north-central Kentucky emergency leaders 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 feet resulting in five deaths and homes destroyed The storms come after the Trump administration cut jobs at NWS forecast offices leaving half of them with vacancy rates of about 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 revealed inches of rain fell Saturday in Jonesboro Arkansas making it the wettest day ever recorded in April in the city Memphis Tennessee received inches of rain from Wednesday to Sunday the NWS commented Rives a northwestern Tennessee town of about 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 It s the first house we ve ever paid off The insurance companies around here won t give flood insurance to anyone who lives in Rives because we re too close to the river and the levees So if we lose it we re kind of screwed without a house Scott revealed Related Articles Increasingly dangerous scam targets kids through sextortion LA County reaches billion agreement to settle sexual abuse insists at juvenile facilities An AI avatar tried to argue a occurrence before a New York court The judges weren t having it Four space tourists return to Earth after a private flight over the poles Chevron ordered to pay more than million to restore Louisiana coast in landmark trial In Dyersburg Tennessee dozens of people arrived over the weekend at a storm shelter near a constituents 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 who announced 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 I grabbed all my stuff and came here announced Mann who brought a folding chair two bags of toiletries laptops iPads and medications I don t leave them in my apartment in scenario 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 Izaguirre shared from New York Kruesi revealed 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 statement