A catastrophic and historic flooding event unfolded across portions of four states over the weekend, leading to a levee failure in Tennessee and leaving at least eight people, including a child, dead in Kentucky as a powerful storm system brought numerous threats to the eastern half of the U.S. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear held a news conference Sunday afternoon when he announced the jump in fatalities and feared that number would continue to grow as search and rescue operations continued across the state. Beshear said the deaths were either flood-related or from motor vehicle crashes, and a child has been included among the victims.

Officials in Tennessee also urged residents of Rives to evacuate and seek higher ground after a levee failed along the Obion River, leading to rapid-onset flooding in the town and surrounding areas. Countless roads have been declared impassable in western and northern Tennessee, southern Kentucky and near the West Virginia-Virginia border, where rainfall reports climbed to over 5-8 inches during the first half of the weekend. While the rainfall has now ended, the flooding threat will continue into the new workweek as several rivers remain high and are not expected to crest for several days.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed at least eight deaths as a result of the ongoing situation and feared that number could continue to rise as more search and rescue operations are conducted across the state. Deaths have been reported in five Kentucky counties – Hart, Pike, Washington, Clay and Nelson. Beshear issued a state of emergency for the commonwealth before the weather, and on Saturday night, he said he wrote to President Donald Trump requesting an emergency disaster declaration because of the impacts across the state. That request was approved early Sunday morning.