A powerful storm system has unleashed a trail of destruction across the eastern United States, with severe flooding claiming at least nine lives in Kentucky and causing widespread damage in several other states.

At least one person is dead as strengthening a powerful storm batters the eastern half of the US with potentially historic dangerous flooding – prompting hurried evacuations, widespread road closures and hazardous travel conditions in several states.

Storms have overwhelmed the state in recent years. On top of the floods, snow is expected soon. Sheets of rain drenched Kentucky in recent days, causing floods that turned roads and neighborhoods into rivers in a part of the country that has been pummeled by severe weather in recent years.