Long days grind on search teams in flood-ravaged Appalachia

By BRUCE SCHREINER and BRYNN ANDERSON
Associated Press

HINDMAN, Ky. (AP) — The long days searching debris-clogged creekbanks are taking a toll on search teams in flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky. Phillip Dix is leading a team from Memphis, Tennessee. He says his crew is used to the stifling heat and humidity. But he says they’re tired under the grind of 12-hour days spent pulling people from danger. Temperatures are soaring in a region of eastern Kentucky where people are shoveling out the wreckage of massive flooding. Some are working without electricity. Officials opened cooling centers for residents. Gov. Andy Beshear says the death toll from the historic flooding in Kentucky remains at 37.