Kentucky flooding

Kentucky has been hit by 'catastrophic and historic' flash flooding as houses and cars were being swept away, with drone footage captures past of a down nearly entirely submerge by the waters.

Dramatic drone footage over Hindman, one of the hardest hit cities in eastern Kentucky, shows several homes and buildings almost completely submerged by the flooding, with only their rooftops of some visible
At least one death has been confirmed in Perry County as Gov. Andy Beshear said deaths and a full toll of the devastation are expected to be reported in the coming hours after mega storms across the state dumped up to 10 inches of rain overnight and into Thursday morning.

'We are experiencing one of he worst, most devastating flooding events in Kentucky's history,' Beshear said during a news conference on Thursday. 'We are asking everybody to pray. A lot of people are really scared right now.'

Beshear said that hundreds of families were likely displaced by the floods and that first responders were focused on the eastern Kentucky, where the floods hit the hardest and have left more than 20,000 residents without power and some 'stranded on their rooftops.'

He added that several educators and staff were also trapped inside schools in the area.

During the briefing, Beshear also shared harrowing pictures of the damage and the ongoing rescue operations, saying it may take some residents years to rebuild and recover.

Breathitt County Emergency Management Director Chris Friley, who is overseeing the damage in one of the hardest hits areas, said on Thursday that the damage over the last day went beyond what previous flooding had done in recent years.

'It's the worst we've had in quite a while,' he said. 'There's several spots that are still not accessible to rescue crews.'