Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron evacuate 296 stranded residents from two housing complexes surrounded by floodwaters in Martin County, Ky., on Feb. 17, 2025. The residents were flown to the Big Sandy Regional Airport in Debord aboard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the Indiana Army National Guard and the Kentucky Army National Guard’s 63rd Theater Aviation Brigade. (Robert Walker/U.S. Air National Guard)
National Guard troops in Kentucky rescued nearly 300 people from one county in one day as deadly floodwaters rose in the eastern portion of the state and trapped residents in their homes.
“This rescue mission added to the more than 1,000 Kentuckians who have been rescued by our Guard members and with the assistance of [Kentucky State Police] and other local, state and federal partners. We are so proud of all of you and so thankful these families are now safe,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement.
Additional troops from Indiana National Guard contributed to the 296 rescues in Martin County on Monday that airlifted people from two housing complexes that had become surrounded by floodwaters, the service said. Those rescued were taken just a few miles north to Big Sandy Regional Airport in Debord.
From there, a team from the Kentucky Air National Guard helped process evacuees and get them to a shelter in Inez.
Flooding across Kentucky began Friday and has claimed at least 14 lives, according to state officials. At least 220 state and federally managed roads remained closed Wednesday.
Now the state is facing snowfall and icy conditions that could persist through Friday.
“The areas hit hardest by flooding are going to get another 3 to 4 inches of snow tonight,” Beshear said Wednesday. “And if the snow wasn’t tough enough, it’s cold right now, and it’s going to get dangerously cold tonight into tomorrow. The wind chills across much of Kentucky are going to get down into the single digits or even lower.”
More than 250 Kentucky Guard troops are working in the aftermath of the flooding and the winter weather, according to the governor’s office. In response to the floods, troops remain on call for search-and-rescue and high-axle transportation missions.
In areas with standing water in eastern Kentucky, engineers from the 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade are working closely with local officials to assess damage and help clear roads.
Other teams are removing debris, hauling supplies and conducting welfare checks.
Specifically in response to the snowfall and freezing temperatures, Guard troops are staging across Kentucky to assist road crews and emergency responders as needed.
Troops will remain on duty for as long as necessary, said Army Maj. Gen. Haldane Lamberton, Kentucky’s adjutant general.
“It is very much a collaborative effort,” he said. “It’s not just any one entity or any one resource, but folks coming together to work together, whatever the need.”
