An 83-year-old woman was rescued by helicopter after being stranded during a flood in the US state of Kentucky. Clinging to a rope, she was hoisted from the roof of her house and transported to a safe place, according to the rescue group.
In a video posted on social media this Sunday (31), the Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team showed the moment of the operation. In the images, it is possible to see the elderly woman being pulled by the aircraft in a completely flooded region, with the water just below the roof of the houses.
According to the publication, five people from the same family were trapped in the attic, and it was necessary to break the window to gain access to them. “One at a time, they were transported out of the house to reach the roof, where a guard was stationed to assist with the hoisting.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said at least 35 people, including four children, have died as a result of flooding caused by torrential rains that hit the eastern part of the state in recent days. In a statement on Monday (1st), he also warned that the climate could worsen even further in the region.
“It’s really difficult,” the Democrat said of the weather forecast in a video posted on social media. “Isolated floods and damaging winds are possible.”
Beashear has been predicting the death toll is set to rise for days. “We know the casualty count will grow. We will spend weeks finding new bodies,” he wrote on Twitter over the weekend. According to the governor, who defined the current rains as one of the worst in local history, landslides will cause victims to be found miles from where they died.
On Monday, authorities continued to work to rescue residents and provide food and shelter for thousands of displaced people. However, the National Weather Service predicted several rounds of continuous rain and storms through Tuesday, which could hamper efforts.
The state also suffers from power outages. Power lines were extensively damaged, with more than 15,000 reports of problems as of Monday morning.
The rains and flooding caused by them are the second extreme weather event to hit Kentucky within seven months. In December, the western portion of the state was swept by tornadoes that left at least 74 dead.
The sum of the disasters makes the place one of the main examples of the risks of the climate emergency in the United States. Scientists claim that the increasing occurrence of extreme weather events is a direct consequence of global warming.
On Friday, President Joe Biden declared a disaster, allowing federal loans to help with rescue and recovery operations in the region. A day earlier, the governor had already declared a state of emergency.
