Updated: What we know so far about the victims in historic Eastern Kentucky flooding

As of Monday morning, 39 deaths have been confirmed across the Eastern Kentucky counties impacted by last week’s flash flooding.

What is known about the confirmed deaths

Of the victims, 17 were in Knott County, eight were from Breathitt County, seven were from Perry County, three were from Letcher County and two were from Clay County. Four of the victims from Knott County are children, Gov. Andy Beshear said.

Victims from Knott County

Knott County Coroner Corey Watson said Wednesday that his office had handled 16 cases of people who died in that county’s floods. The body of least one Knott resident was recovered in Breathitt County, Breathitt Coroner Hargis Epperson said.

Beshear said the victims from Knott County were at 17.

Hindman Funeral Services staff said on Wednesday that the following people were flood victims:

Rita Hall, 78, of Hindman.

Adam Combs, 75, and his wife Elizabeth Mae Combs, 71, of Fisty.

Caster Clark Slone, 74, of Hindman.

Tommy Lynn Cornett, 61, of Carrie.

The four children have been identified as Maddison Noble, 8, Riley Noble Jr., 6, Nevaeh Noble, 4, and Chance Noble, 1 1/2, a relative told the Herald-Leader. The victims were swept away from their parents in the flood on Thursday. The mother and father, Amber Smith and Riley Noble, were found alive.

Ashley June Collins said the body of her adoptive father James Miller, 73, was also found.

Miller’s wife, Carol, 72, died in the flood, a family member said in a GoFundMe request. Another relative told the Herald-Leader that James Miller was confined to his bed and that his wife wouldn’t have left him as the waters rose.

The body of Betty Beaver, 73, has been recovered, the Perry County Coroner said.

Nikki Slone, 50, was recovered Friday after she went out to check on an elderly friend and never returned, her daughter Misty Franklin said.

Diana Amburgey, 65, died in the flood as water surrounded her bed, according to her daughter Robin Shepherd.

The New York Times reported that Rosa Lee Vick, 55, of Pine Top was among the victims.

“Rosie Vick and her husband, Randall, were at home in Pine Top, Ky., when the storm hit, in the little creekside house they rented from his cousin on what had been the family homestead,” The New York Times reported.

Sebern Combs told the Herald-Leader his brother Johnny Wayne Combs, 60, of Fisty, died in the flood.

“Johnny Wayne was a man with a heart of gold, putting other before him all the time,” said Combs. “We had an older sibling die of drowning just ten years ago and it put a toll on Johnny and all of us. We just feel as if we’re in a bad dream and need to wake up to end it.’

Judy and Victor “Bones” Slone of Leburn were among those who died in the Kentucky floods, said Judy’s niece Julia Everidge.

Johnathan Larry Hunter, 51, of Topmost, died in the flooding, according to Jake Hall, a friend of Hunter’s. Hunter’s obituary says he died July 30 and is survived by his father, six siblings and other relatives.

Victims from Perry County

Shelley Wilson said the body of her father, missing since a flood struck Perry County in late July, has been identified. Dennis Edward Stacy, 71, had been missing since his trailer washed away in the July 28 flood from Williams Circle in Hazard.

Nellie Mae “Nell” Howard, 82, was at her daughter’s house near a small creek in the Chavies community when the flood came Thursday, said Perry County Sheriff Joe Engle, who is Howard’s great-nephew.

He said the water “was so quick and furious she couldn’t escape.”

Howard loved to cook and grew beautiful roses, her granddaughter said.

Perry County Deputy Coroner Jeff Combs said she went missing around midnight or 1 a.m. Thursday and was discovered around 8 or 9 a.m.; the death was reported around 10:48 a.m. that day.

According to Combs, she had left her house and died while trying to reach higher ground.

The Perry County coroner’s office said David Campbell, 78, was found inside his home in the Rowdy community. His body was found early Friday.

Gabe Hensley, 30, was trying to get home when his truck got caught in the floodwaters. His body was identified Sunday, a family member told the Herald-Leader Monday.

Mick Crawford, 18, of Perry County, died after helping flood victims.

Victims from Clay County

Walter Hinkle, 76, was “washed out of his house,” said Clay County Deputy Coroner Joe Crockett.

Brenda Webb, 81, who lived about 2.5 miles from Hinkle, died “when the floodwaters went right through her house,” Crockett said.

Victims from Letcher County

Beshear said the deaths in Letcher County included a 79-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman.

Letcher Funeral Home employee Josh Lowe identified the man as Clarence Sturgill, who drowned in the flood. The woman was Sturgill’s wife, Jewel Sturgill, he said.

The Mountain Eagle newspaper in Whitesburg reported that Clarence was 79 and Jewel was 64. The two, who were custodians at Letcher County Central High School, died when their truck was swept off a bridge at Ermine, according to the newspaper.

Lowe said another woman whose services were being handled by Letcher Funeral Home, Betty Estep, 67, was trying to escape floodwaters and get to higher ground when she had apparently had a medical emergency.

Victims from Breathitt County

Breathitt County Coroner Hargis Epperson said that county had seven dead from the flooding as of Sunday night. Another victim, Christine Roberts, 63, of Highland Road, died after emergency medical services could not reach her on flooded roads when she had chest pains.

Gilla Ann Miller, 83, of Hardshell, was found dead in her flooded home. Miller’s neighbor Helen Campbell, 82, also died.

The others were:

Ruby Cundiff, 69, Clayhole.

Bobby Beaver, 47, who lived in Knott County, but whose body was found in Breathitt County. Cody Thompson told the Courier-Journal that the body of his grandmother, Betty Beaver, was also found.

Gary Combs, 61, of Bowling’s Creek.

Amy Henson, 40, of Lower River Caney Road.

“Her life was our family, “ said Henson’s daughter Shayna Thorpe, one of three children. “She loved gardening, she loved her animals, she loved just life.”

“She was truly a caretaker,” said Thorpe.

Jeanette Johnson, 65, of Clayhole, died in the flood in Breathitt County, said Karen Ellis, a staff member at Breathitt Funeral Home that’s handling arrangements. After posting on social media that she was searching for her missing sister, Teresa McIntosh said Saturday that Jeanette had died in the flooding: “We need prayer tonight and days to come,” she said. “We are so heart broken it hurts so bad,” she said.

Tony Calhoun, 52, who lost everything he owned in the Breathitt County floods, killed himself, said Calhoun’s fiancée, Edith Heather Lisk.

Other victims

This story will be updated as more information is available.

Herald-Leader reporter Karla Ward contributed to this report.

This story was originally published July 29, 2022 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Updated: What we know so far about the victims in historic Eastern Kentucky flooding."