Four dead after flash floods in Kentucky, Indiana

[July 16, 2015]  By Steve Bittenbender
 
 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - Four people have died and at least five were still unaccounted for on Wednesday after a series of storms struck the Ohio Valley, producing flash floods that swept through parts of eastern Kentucky and southern Indiana, officials said.

Three bodies have been recovered in Johnson County, Kentucky, which was hard hit by flooding, and a fourth person drowned in southern Indiana after his car was swept into a creek, officials said.

Searchers recovered the body of a 22-year-old man on Wednesday afternoon, one of two people listed as missing who were last seen being swept away on Monday by floods in Johnson County, about 125 miles east of Lexington, officials said.

The man's family has not been notified of his death and search teams were still looking for the other missing person, Johnson County Coroner J.R. Frisby said.

Authorities believe the other four missing people have been unable to notify family members living outside the area, state police Captain Sean Welch said.

Officials said Herman Eddie May, 56, drowned Monday evening after leaving his car on a flooded road, and the body of Willa Mae Pennington, 74, was found Tuesday afternoon amidst flood debris, both in Johnson County.

Flood damage in Johnson and Rowan counties prompted Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear to declare a state of emergency.

In Indiana, Edwin Flaherty, 67, was found dead on Tuesday night after his vehicle was swept into a creek near Charlestown, 20 miles north of Louisville. An autopsy determined he drowned, an Indiana Department of Natural Resources spokesman said.

(Reporting by Steve Bittenbender; Editing by Ben Klayman and Eric Walsh)

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