By Angela Hatton
Paducah, KY – Nearly 4,000 people in western Kentucky have left their homes, while hundreds more have evacuated from southern Illinois and southeast Missouri. Most have found refuge with family and friends, but a few, like Ashley Latham of Paducah are living at Red Cross shelters. Latham and her five children packed up and left their home over a week ago.
"I don't think there's going to be an opportunity for us to go back to our house, cause our house that we lived in was fifty years old and it was a cinder-block house. And I don't think there's going to be much left of it after this flood has hit it."
Governor Steve Beshear has requested federal disaster aid for individuals and businesses affected by the flood. A federal major disaster declaration is still pending. The National Weather Service predicts rivers won't drop below flood stage for at least another week.