Earlier in the day, the governor said in a press conference the state expects “massive property damage” that will take “not months, but likely years for many families to rebuild and recover from.” A total of 25,111 people are without power statewide, he added.

Beshear has activated the Kentucky National Guard and signed a state of emergency, which will “unlock the resources needed and also tell the people of eastern Kentucky that we are going to be there for them,” he said. Beshear also established the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund to secure funding for “families in need,” he tweeted.

On Thursday evening, Beshear tweeted that he had made a direct request to President Joe Biden for federal assistance.

“The damage suffered is enormous and recovery will be a long-term effort,” he said. “This assistance is critical to our efforts and essential for our people.”

The sheriff in Perry County, where two of the deaths occurred, described the flooding as something “unlike (anything) I’ve ever seen.”

Authorities have not released the names of the victims.

“We’ve had reports coming in all night of people that we’ve just not been able to get to,” Perry County Sheriff Joe Engle told NBC News. “So hoping that the water will recede and come down to be able to get them, but I’m not sure how many people are still trapped.”

Perry County Emergency Management Director Jerry Stacy told The Associated Press that “we’re just in the rescue mode right now.”

“Extreme flash flooding and mudslides are just everywhere,” he said by phone Thursday morning as he struggled to reach his office in Hazard.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., tweeted about the floods, urging anyone in need of assistance to contact his office.

“Praying for all those affected,” he wrote.