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| Hindman, Kentucky this morning amid massive flash floods |
It was pretty much a worst case scenario: Up to ten inches of rain poured down on already waterlogged, rugged terrain in the middle of the night, sending walls of water through hamlets in the valleys below.
As of this writing the extent of the loss is just beginning to be assessed as communications are cut off and roads are impassable. I greatly fear loss of life, as it's clear a number of homes and cars were swept away and disintegrated in the extreme flash flooding. So far one death has been confirmed, but that number could easily rise.
NBC News says about 20 people are unaccounted for in just one county, but it's unclear if it's because people can't reach the area where the people are, or whether they are in jeopardy.
Early video from the disaster zone shows houses crunched up against trees or embankments, or completely missing. Piles of wood that might have been houses are along the shores of creek beds that are now receding.
In some ways, this disaster isn't a surprise. Serious flash flooding had been expected in the Tennessee Valley and central Appalachians all week. The threat is not over at all. Torrential downpours are expected in many of the same areas today and tomorrow.
Other significant flash floods are ongoing and expected to spread through parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado as monsoon moisture causes downpours there. It's especially dangerous near spots that recently had wildfires, since the rains will set off debris flows of mud, ash and charred branches.
Flash flooding and debris flows have been harassing Flagstaff, Arizona all week.
The Monday St. Louis floods, which dumped up to a foot of rain in just a few hours, caused two deaths and widespread damage. The city had 25 percent of its normal annual rainfall in just 12 hours.
I'll keep an eye on updates from Kentucky, and the expected new flooding in that region this week.
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