Flooding sweeps away 9-year-old as storms slam central US

A 9-year-old lad successful Kentucky was swept distant by flood waters connected Friday, 1 of astatine slightest 9 radical to dice successful a bid of melodramatic storms that proceed to pummel the US.

High winds and dense rainfall continued to batter states including Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky connected Saturday, delaying betterment efforts.

Forecasters astatine the National Weather Service said to expect "potentially historic" rainfall and wide somesthesia swings from the cardinal US to the East Coast into Sunday.

The lad was reportedly walking to his schoolhouse autobus halt connected Friday greeting erstwhile helium was overtaken by flooding. The Frankfort Police Department, successful Frankfurt, Kentucky, confirmed it recovered his assemblage astir 2 hours later.

"We are profoundly saddened astatine this horrific calamity that claimed the beingness of 1 of our students," Franklin County Schools Superintendent Mark Kopp said astatine a quality league connected Friday.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called the boy's decease an "unimaginable loss". He besides confirmed different decease - that of an big - successful Kentucky connected Saturday.

"We request everyone to recognize that each h2o poses a hazard close now. Let's bash everything imaginable to support our loved ones safe," helium said successful a statement.

National Weather Service forecasters said terrible thunderstorms and flash flooding were expected crossed a wide set of the cardinal US that extended from Arkansas and Louisiana to Western Pennsylvania into Sunday earlier the strategy would weaken and determination to the East Coast.

As of Saturday afternoon, much than 162,000 radical were already without powerfulness successful Arkansas, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky had already declared states of exigency earlier successful the week.

Forecasters said the storms Saturday had "the makings of a catastrophic, perchance historical dense rainfall and flash flood event, with immoderate locations perchance seeing rainfall amounts arsenic precocious arsenic 10-20 (inches) erstwhile each is said and done".

Even erstwhile the rainfall stops, swollen rivers volition proceed to airs a danger, forecasters said. Changes successful unit and precocious winds besides puts the country from eastbound Texas to occidental Tennessee astatine enhanced hazard for tornados.

It has been a punishing week of upwind for the region. Dozens of tornados person been reported and hundreds of counties person spent days nether tempest warnings since Wednesday.

Other deaths person included a antheral and his teenaged girl successful Tennessee and a 68-year-old antheral successful Missouri who reportedly stopped to assistance a stranded driver.

The aforesaid portion was deed by tornadoes, wildfires and particulate storms that killed 40 and left "staggering" harm successful March.