At least one person was killed by, and several others were rescued from, flash floods in Kentucky last week. The deluge, which dropped more than three inches of rain in some places, was reminiscent of the widespread, catastrophic flooding that killed 44 people across eastern Kentucky last summer. (There was flooding in eastern Kentucky that caused damage last week, but the death occurred in Marion County, in the central part of the state.) Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, makes extreme precipitation events worse and more frequent, increasing flooding risks. Last week, before the most recent flooding, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth called on the Department of the Interior to investigate the strong correlation between drowning deaths during the 2022 floods and coal strip mines. (Grist; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase, Floods)
This story has been corrected to clarify the location of the fatality in February 2023. —Ed.