State leaders announced on Sunday that with federal support approved by President Trump, the state has been granted an emergency disaster declaration.
On Sunday, Gov. Beshear announced that Kentucky is in a search and rescue phase—using precious time to find those who are in life-threatening situations caused by devastating weather conditions in many southern and eastern counties—and getting them to safety.
On Saturday alone, Beshear said over 1,000 rescues were performed by emergency team members.
During Saturday’s conference, the governor, along with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and FEMA officials, each asked the public to stay home and avoid travel at all costs during this state of emergency.
“Kentucky, we are seeing dangerous and life-threatening conditions across the state, and things are only going to get tougher due to widespread flooding and incoming weather,” Gov. Beshear said. “Please stay off the roads. If you see water over the roadway, turn around – it’s not worth it.”
As of 3 p.m. Sunday, over 27,000 Kentucky customers were without power, according to the state outage map.
Eric Gibson, head of Kentucky Emergency Management, said during Sunday’s press conference that although state residents may want to donate supplies, distribution centers to receive those supplies have not yet been established.
“At this time, we’re so early in this event, it’s fair for us to say that our distribution centers are not open for those donations yet,” Gibson said.
Where can Kentuckians impacted by the storm find shelter?
The following counties have opened emergency shelters for those in need:
- Breathitt
- Harlan
- Knott
- Lawrence
- Leslie
- Letcher
- Martin
- Magoffin
- Wolfe
In addition to these shelters, the Kentucky State Parks Service announced around noon on Sunday that the following parks were accepting those in need of refuge from the storm:
- Natural Bridge State Resort Park
- Pine Mountain State Resort Park
- Cumberland Falls State Resort Park
Beshear said that Jenny Wiley State Resort Park was at capacity as of 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Gibson and Gov. Beshear both emphasized the importance of waiting until officials say the time is right for donations to be collected.
For those wanting to help Kentuckians during the state of emergency, the Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund was announced by state leaders on Sunday.
