Images show flooded Kentucky communities as storms trigger state of emergency - NBC News

— Kentucky firefighter Eddie Stacy was turning his firetruck around in the dark while responding to storm damage when he noticed a tiny light coming from the flooded Red River.

“We don’t do too much training on this water rescue,” Stacy said.

Heavy thunderstorms pounded parts of Appalachia on Sunday and Monday, sending rivers out of their banks and leading to multiple water rescues, mudslides, road closures and power outages, officials said.

He said 13 counties and cities had declared states of emergency and the Kentucky National Guard was activated and was assisting with high water emergencies.

Severe or moderate flooding was forecast Monday on several rivers in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, including different locations along the Kentucky River southeast of Lexington, the National Weather Service said.

And about a dozen people had to be assisted at a church in the Kanawha County community of Cross Lanes on Monday after high water cut off access to a road, WCHS-TV reported

In Roane County, residents in one public service district were asked to conserve drinking water after a flooded water plant broke down and was inaccessible

The Clay Roane Public Service District said in a social media post that water tanks were dangerously low and cannot be refilled until the floodwaters recede and the problem is repaired

Some schools closed or delayed classes because of flooding concerns and about 13,000 customers were without power in Kentucky and West Virginia, according to poweroutage.us, a utility tracking service