At least 9 people are dead, including 8 in Kentucky, amid latest blast of winter weather

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — At least nine people have died in the most recent round of harsh weather to pummel the U.S., including eight people in Kentucky who died as creeks swelled from heavy rain and water covered roads.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday that hundreds of people stranded by flooding had to be rescued.

Beshear said most of the deaths, including a mother and 7-year-old child, were caused by cars getting stuck in high water.

This photo provided by the Warren County, Ky., Sheriff’s Office shows a partially submerged car outside of Bowling Green, Ky., on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Warren County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

“So folks, stay off the roads right now and stay alive,” he said. “This is the search and rescue phase, and I am very proud of all the Kentuckians that are out there responding, putting their lives on the line.”

Beshear said there have been 1,000 rescues across the state since the storms started on Saturday. The storms knocked out power to about 39,000 homes, but Beshear warned that harsh winds in some areas could increase outages.

Much of the U.S. beyond Kentucky faced another round of biting winter weather. The Northern Plains faced life-threatening cold, and snowstorms hit the Midwest and Northeast.

Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee received up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain during the weekend storms, said Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service.

“The effects will continue for awhile, a lot of swollen streams and a lot of flooding going on,” Oravec said Sunday. “Any time there’s flooding, the flooding can last a lot longer than the rain lasts.”

A levee failed in the small community of Rivas, Tennessee, Saturday afternoon, flooding nearby neighborhoods and spurring rescue efforts from fire officials in west Tennessee. How the levee in Obion County became damaged and the number of people affected was unclear. A flash flood warning was issued by the National Weather Service just hours prior to the failure.

Rivas is 110 miles (177 kilometers) miles north of Memphis and is home to less than 300 people.

In Atlanta, a person was killed when a large tree fell on a home early Sunday, according to Atlanta Fire Rescue Capt. Scott Powell. He told reporters that firefighters were dispatched just before 5 a.m. after a 911 call.

Elsewhere, bone-chilling cold is expected for the Northern Plains with low temperatures into the minus 30s F near the Canadian border. Dangerously cold wind chill temperatures in the Dakotas and Minnesota of minus 40 Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius) to minus 50 F (minus 45.6 C) are expected.

Kentucky faces severe flooding

Water submerged cars and buildings in Kentucky and mudslides blocked roads in Virginia late Saturday into Sunday. Both of the states were under flood warnings, along with Tennessee and Arkansas. The National Weather Service warned residents to stay off the roads.

Gov. Beshear said state police had answered more than 1,800 calls for service since Saturday morning as rains began to pound the state. Chilly temperatures replaced the heavy rains with snow early Sunday in parts of Kentucky.

The mother and child were swept away Saturday night in the Bonnieville community, Hart County Coroner Tony Roberts said. In southeastern Kentucky, a 73-year-old man was found dead in floodwaters in Clay County, county Emergency Management Deputy Director Revelle Berry said. There were a total of four deaths in Hart County, Beshear said.

The Kentucky River Medical Center in the city of Jackson said it had closed its emergency department and was transferring all patients to two other hospitals in the region due to a nearby river flooding. The hospital said it would re-evaluate conditions, but no update was available Sunday afternoon.

Photos posted by authorities and residents on social media showed cars and buildings underwater in south-central and eastern Kentucky. In Buchanan County, Virginia, the sheriff’s office said multiple roads were blocked by mudslides.

The Simpson County Office of Emergency Management in Kentucky said authorities performed several rescues from stalled-out vehicles in floodwaters.
“Stay home if you can,” the office said on Facebook.

Midwest, Northeast hit with snow storms, Polar Vortex on the way

Ice and snow made road travel treacherous in large swaths of Michigan, which remained under a winter weather advisory until Monday afternoon. Michigan State Police reported 114 crashes Sunday around the Detroit area since the snow started falling early Saturday.

“Fortunately, most were one-car spin outs and there were no serious injuries,” Michigan State Police said on X. “A majority of them were caused by drivers just going too fast or following too close.”
Wind chills as low as 50 degrees below zero were expected in most of North Dakota, which remained under an “extreme cold warning” along with large swaths of South Dakota and Minnesota, according to the National Weather Service.

Mark Framness, who lives in northeast Wisconsin, said it seems he’s needed to use the snow blower every few days this winter and recently put snow tires on his truck for the first time. The 58-year-old avid skier says it’s been fantastic for the slopes.

But with temperatures expected to dip to 4 degrees below zero on Sunday and dangerous wind chills he’s adjusting his plans. He’s scrapped an outing with friends and is instead donning thick socks and sweaters around the house.

“I’m just going to stay inside,” he said.

Meteorologists said the U.S. was about to get its 10th and coldest polar vortex stretching event this season, with the northern Rockies and northern Plains first in line. Weather forces in the Arctic are combining to push the chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the U.S. and Europe.

The National Weather Service warned of “life-threatening cold” in the northern Plains, with temperatures dropping to minus 30 degrees (minus 34 Celsius) or lower on Monday and Tuesday mornings.

Avalanche warnings were issued for numerous areas of the Rocky Mountains stretching from Colorado to Washington state, with the danger rated highest in Utah.

More than two feet of snow had fallen by Sunday morning in parts of Colorado. In Denver, where temperatures were expected to dip as low as 14 degrees (minus 10 degrees Celsius), the city opened shelters for people living on the streets.
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Sophia Tareen in Chicago, Nadia Lathan in Texas and Matthew Brown in Montana contributed to this report.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Flooding in US Southeast leaves at least 4 dead; snow, ice and wind cause winter misery elsewhere

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Much of the U.S. faced another round of biting winter weather Sunday, with torrential rains causing intense flooding in Kentucky and resulting in at least four deaths in the Southeast. The Northern Plains faced life-threatening cold, and tornado watches were issued for parts of Georgia and Florida.

A mother and her 7-year-old child were killed in Kentucky when the car they were in was swept away by flood waters in Hart County near Interstate 65, a county official told WBKO-TV. Hart County Coroner Tony Roberts said the two were swept away Saturday night in the Bonnieville community. In southeastern Kentucky, a 73-year-old man was found dead in floodwaters in Clay County, County Emergency Management Deputy Director Revelle Berry said.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday that President Trump had approved his request for disaster relief funding.

Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee received up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain during the weekend storms, said Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service.

“The effects will continue for awhile, a lot of swollen streams and a lot of flooding going on,” Oravec said Sunday. “Any time there’s flooding, the flooding can last a lot longer than the rain lasts.”

Severe storms also swept through parts of Florida and Georgia, where tornado watches were in effect early Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

In Atlanta, a person was killed when an “extremely large tree” fell on a home early Sunday, according to Atlanta Fire Rescue Capt. Scott Powell. He told reporters that firefighters were dispatched just before 5 a.m. after a 911 call.

Elsewhere, bone-chilling cold is expected for the Northern Plains with low temperatures into the minus 30s F near the Canadian border. Dangerously cold wind chill temperatures in the Dakotas and Minnesota of minus 40 Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius) to minus 50 F (minus 45.6 C) are expected.

Heavy snowfall amounts were expected in parts of New England and northern New York. In some areas, wind gusts could reach 60 mph (about 97 kph) and create “hazardous whiteout conditions,” the NWS said.
Kentucky faces severe flooding

Water submerged cars and buildings in Kentucky and mudslides blocked roads in Virginia late Saturday into Sunday. Both of the states were under flood warnings, along with Tennessee and Arkansas. The National Weather Service warned residents to stay off the roads.

Chilly temperatures replaced the heavy rains with snow early Sunday morning in parts of Kentucky.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear preemptively declared a state of emergency in Kentucky ahead of the storms, where flash flooding was expected into Sunday.

“Widespread flooding is continuing,” Beshear said in a social media post Sunday morning. He said evacuations of people in flooded areas were continuing on Sunday.

The Kentucky River Medical Center in the city of Jackson said closed its emergency department and was transferring all patients to two other hospitals in the region. The hospital said it would re-evaluate conditions Sunday morning to determine when it can safely reopen. The north fork of the Kentucky River was forecast to crest nearly 14 feet (4.3 meters) above flood stage that afternoon, the weather service said.

Photos posted by authorities and residents on social media showed cars and buildings underwater in south-central and eastern Kentucky. In Buchanan County, Virginia, the sheriff’s office said multiple roads were blocked by mudslides.

The Simpson County Office of Emergency Management in Kentucky said authorities performed several rescues from stalled-out vehicles in floodwaters.
“Stay home if you can,” the office said on Facebook.

New England faces snow, then sleet

Meanwhile heavy snow was expected to blanket much of New England and then transition to sleet.

Oravec said Sunday that snowfall in the region was relatively light, due to the freezing rain and sleet mix.

Snow and arctic temperatures swept much of the Midwest and Upper Plains on Saturday, covering roads in eastern Nebraska, northern Iowa and much of Wisconsin. Winter weather advisories were issued for parts of those states and Michigan, with up to 4 inches (10.6 centimeters) of snow predicted throughout Iowa, southern Wisconsin and most of Michigan by Sunday evening.

Frigid polar vortex

Meteorologists said the U.S. was about to get its 10th and coldest polar vortex stretching event this season, with the northern Rockies and northern Plains first in line. Weather forces in the Arctic are combining to push the chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the U.S. and Europe.

In Denver, where temperatures were expected to dip as low as 14 degrees (minus 10 degrees Celsius) over the weekend, the city opened shelters for those living on the streets.

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