Kentucky Floods Shut Down This Popular Distillery

Some residents in the South were beginning to return home after major flooding forced evacuations. Officials were hoping that by the end of Wednesday, most displaced people could return to see what kind of damage the floodwaters did to their homes.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear urged people to wait if their journey home required them to drive through water.

“Remember, even as much as we love our stuff — and sometimes it’s memories and photographs that are impacted — it’s our lives and the lives of our family and friends that matter,” Beshear said.

At least 27 deaths are being connected to days of severe storms and heavy rain across parts of the South and Midwest, where rivers burst their banks, causing dangerous flooding.

(MORE: Family Recounts Moment Tree Falls On Home)

While the storms are over, the flood danger continues throughout the South and Ohio Valley. According to officials, flooding was expected to continue in some areas along the Ohio River into next week, but no further evacuations were expected.

Hundreds of roads were closed early this week across Kentucky due to flooding, mudslides and rockslides. In some cities, such as Frankfort, Kentucky, the state’s capital, utilities have been shut off and a curfew was implemented Monday into Tuesday as the river reached a near-record cresting point. Hundreds of people in the state still have no access to water and nearly 4,000 are under boil advisories, The Associated Press reported.

Of the 27 deaths reported as of Tuesday evening, 10 occurred in Tennessee. Three people were killed in Kentucky, including a 9-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters as he headed to catch his school bus. In Arkansas, a 5-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on his family’s home, according to police. And in Missouri, two were killed including a 16-year-old volunteer firefighter, according to The AP.

Indiana and Georgia each reported two weather-related deaths, and one also occurred in Mississippi.

Several locations around the South measured over 10 inches of rain over the last few days, with some seeing more than 15 inches, including Benton, Kentucky, and Hickory, Kentucky, according to NOAA.

(MORE: Dock Slams Into Bridge On Swollen Kentucky River)

Authorities pleaded with residents to stay off flooded roads, and some rescue workers were going from home to home in inflatable boats to check on residents.

Flooding wasn’t the only severe weather plaguing the area. Tornado warnings stretched across the South over the weekend, and one tornado was confirmed in Blue Springs, Mississippi. Another suspected tornado destroyed a mobile home and killed a woman in Jasper County, Mississippi.

Nicole Bonaccorso is a senior content writer at weather.com. Based out of New Jersey, she joined the team in 2013.

Weather.com senior writer Jan Childs contributed to this report.