At least 20 people have died as a result of severe flooding and weather across multiple states, including a nine-year-old boy who was swept away by rushing water in Kentucky and a teen firefighter who was killed while responding to an emergency rescue in Missouri.
Shocking images out of Memphis, Tennessee, and Little Rock, Arkansas, show flooding in the streets as a result of heavy rainfall from late last week:
An EF-3 tornado also tore through southwestern Tennessee and killed at least ten people, ABC News reported.
Photos and videos of the aftermath show destroyed homes, buildings, and vehicles:
In Frankfort, Kentucky, nine-year-old Gabriel Andrews was tragically killed by floodwaters while he was walking to the bus stop at around 6:30 a.m. on Friday, WLKY reported.
The young boy’s body was found over two hours later about half a mile away from where he was swept away. An autopsy still has to be completed.
“My heart breaks for the family,” Gov. Andy Beshear (D) told reporters. “And I hope everyone joins Britainy and I in praying for this family after such an unimaginable loss. It sadly underscores just how dangerous floodwaters can be.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) also offered his condolences on Sunday after a father and son were killed by a fallen tree on a golf course in Midland, according to ABC.
“Marty, the girls, and I are saddened by the tragic deaths of two Georgians in Muscogee County today as a result of the severe weather. We ask that you join us in keeping their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers, along with all those responding to storm damage,” the governor stated.
The victims, 58-year-old Matthew Terrell Collins Sr. and 29-year-old Matthew Terrell Collins Jr. were crushed to death while sheltering from the storm in their golf cart when a tree fell, WRBL reported.
The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) confirmed the state’s first storm-related death as a five-year-old Little Rock boy, though the circumstances were not reported, according to a local ABC affiliate.
Tragedy struck again on Friday in Franklin County, Missouri when teenage firefighter Chevy Gall died in a vehicle crash while responding to a reported water rescue, with the Beaufort-Leslie Fire Protection District sharing that he was pronounced dead at the hospital after sustaining “critical injuries.”
The condition of the other individual involved in the crash was “unknown” when the fire department shared the bad news late Friday night.
“Tonight is a fire chief’s worst nightmare. We are heartbroken by the loss of one of our own. Chevy died while answering the call to help others. Our entire department is grieving, as we mourn with Chevy’s family, friends, and our fellow first responders during this incredibly difficult time,” said District Fire Chief Terry Feth.
Gall received a dignified transfer by a procession of emergency vehicles on Monday.
In another sad incident, Chief Garry Moore of the Whitewater Fire Protection District was killed while helping a stranded driver on Wednesday.
Moore, 68, is suspected to have been electrocuted by downed power lines as a result of a tornado, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported.
While the storms across several southern and midwestern states have begun to subside, warnings and flood watches are still active with the Ohio River expected to crest on Monday, according to WLWT.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC, Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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