23-02-2025
21 Kentuckians dead during flooding, winter weather, Beshear says
At least 21 deaths in Kentucky have been tied to the flooding and winter weather that followed it this month, Gov. Andy Beshear said.
A man from Logan County was the most recent, Beshear said in a social media post Saturday night.
Other recently-reported deaths from the severe weather include a Caldwell County man, a Morgan County woman, an Ohio County man, a Pike County man and a woman from Warren County, Beshear announced in a social media post Friday night, though in a few cases the official cause of death was not yet known.
The man who died in Ohio County apparently drowned while traveling on Parks Ridge Road in Hartford, which was flooded, said Coroner Elvis Doolin.
The body of Oscar Villanueva-Segova, 44, of Hartford, was recovered Thursday, Doolin said.
'It appeared that he had gotten out of the car,' Doolin said, and the window on the vehicle was found rolled down.
Doolin said Villanueva-Segova's family told officials 'he had left for work on Monday at 5 a.m. ... He did not make it to work.'
In Caldwell County, the body of William 'Bill' Brown, 67, of Dawson Springs, was found Thursday in a car in high water, the Dawson Springs Police Department said in a Facebook post Thursday.
In Pike County, Coroner Kevin Hall said Luther Dixon may have died as a result of hypothermia.
'His residence was flooded, and he was living out of his vehicle,' Hall said.
Dixon, 76, of Pikeville, was found dead inside the vehicle Friday morning, Hall said.
Dixon was one of four people in Pike County who died as a result of the extreme weather, Hall said.
Morgan County Coroner Shawn VanCleave said Janice Mitchell, 85, of West Liberty, was found Thursday outside a vacant home next door to where she lived. He said Mitchell suffered from dementia, and it was unclear if she had taken a fall or if she succumbed to hypothermia.
'I'm sure the cold weather played a big part,' VanCleave said.
Warren County Deputy Coroner Dwayne Lawrence said the 72-year-old woman who died there was found lying on her porch Thursday morning, after someone across the street reported seeing her.
Lawrence said the woman's body was sent for an autopsy, and it is unclear whether exposure to the cold was a factor in her death.
'We're just not really sure what happened,' he said. 'She had a lot of medical history.'
It was unclear how long she had been outside, Lawrence said.
Every one of Kentucky's 120 counties reported flooding after 3 to 8 inches of rain fell on the state beginning the night of Feb. 14, prompting more than 1,000 emergency rescues in the first 24 hours.
Beshear set up a Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund, which he said will pay for the funerals of victims of the disaster. By Thursday, his office said the fund had raised nearly $200,000.
Beshear said he hopes the federal government will approve direct aid for people affected by the disaster.
'We're still dealing with this difficult flooding, snowstorm and then bitter cold situation in Kentucky,' the governor said in a short video posted to the social media platform X.
'We thankfully got a presidential declaration of disaster pretty quickly. Now, we're waiting on the decision for individual assistance, whether the federal government's going to step up and provide direct help to our people.
'I'm doing my part. I'm pushing for it because my job is to be the best governor I can for the people of Kentucky, and I wish we could adopt that policy all around the country.'
Herald-Leader education reporter Valarie Honeycutt Spears contributed to this report.
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