‘In the bullseye.’ Floods caused severe damage in KY and potential remains for more.
Flooding that reached near-record levels last week affected more than 217 homes in southeastern Kentucky, state officials said at a news conference Thursday.
Gov. Andy Beshear met with judges-executive and emergency managers from several counties hit by the flooding and held the news conference to discuss the state and local response.
Among other things, Beshear said that rescuers had conducted more than 100 high water rescues and evacuations after fast-rising water cut off access to homes.
“Their response has saved countless lives,” Beshear said.
Beshear and others lauded the efforts of local officials, emergency workers and volunteers in responding to the flooding.
Officials haven’t tallied a preliminary estimate of the damage, in part because water hasn’t receded far enough in some places to do that.
But it’s clear the flooding has been severe, Beshear said.
In addition, the potential for flooding isn’t over because more heavy rain is forecast for early next week, said Michael Dossett, director of Kentucky Emergency Management.
“We’re actually in the bullseye for the next two to three weeks,” Dossett said.
If there is more flooding, it would count as one event for the purpose of figuring out if the state meets the threshold for a presidential disaster declaration.
Beshear said it is important for residents to report their damage to local officials to help with the damage assessment.
State Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican; Democrat state Sen. Johnny Ray Turner of Floyd County; and state Rep. Adam Bowling, R-Middlesboro, attended the briefing with Beshear.
Beshear and other officials flew on a Kentucky Army National Guard helicopter to tour areas hit by high waters
Beshear declared a state of emergency Feb. 7. Local officials declared emergencies in Bell, Clay, Harlan, Knox, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, McCreary, Perry and Whitley counties, and in seven cities in those counties, according to Beshear’s office.
The flooding washed away two mobile homes in Harlan County, blocked roads, washed out culverts and caused mudslides. Damage to homes ranged from minimal to severe, with Bell County having the most affected at 91.
A train derailment in Pike County Thursday happened after a mudslide covered the tracks.
One man died in Whitley County while on his way to work late Feb. 6. Ronnie Bryant, 74, a night security guard at a coal mine, was found in his submerged vehicle.
Dossett said more than six inches of rain fell in Bell and Harlan counties between Feb. 3 and 6, with others not far behind.
Much of that fell in the final 24 hours, however, said Dossett.
Beshear described the flood as a 100-year flood — a little over 40 years since the record flood of 1977.
There was flooding along the Kentucky River and other waterways, but flooding was worst along the upper Cumberland River.
The river hit its third-highest crest ever at Williamsburg.
And the river rose to the second-highest depth ever recorded at Pineville, just shy of the flood of April 1977 that swamped the city and killed a total of 22 people in Eastern Kentucky and nearby areas in Appalachia.
The federal government has since spent hundreds of millions of dollars on floodwall projects to protect Harlan, Pineville, Barbourville and Williamsburg.
There were concerns about additional flooding in the area Wednesday and Thursday, but despite heavy rain in some places Wednesday night, officials said there was no significant additional flood damage.
Strong winds did blow down some trees onto homes, said Amanda Shotton, a manager with the Red Cross.
“We were fortunate last night that the water didn’t go up the way we thought it was going to,” Shotton said Thursday afternoon.
Shotton said the Red Cross had tallied 150 homes affected in some way by the earlier flooding in southeastern Kentucky, including 80 or 90 that were badly damaged.
The Red Cross had 37 volunteers working in the region, but Shotton said she expects to soon have a total of 60 in the hardest-hit counties, as well as in Pike, Letcher, Perry, Martin and Breathitt counties.
The damage from last week’s flood was severe by recent standards, Shotton said, but local leaders and residents have taken steps to mitigate damage from high water since devastating floods in 1977 and 1984, such as moving homes further away from riverbanks.
Those efforts helped reduce the amount of damage this year, she said.
Shotton encouraged people impacted by flooding to call the regional Red Cross hotline at (859) 428-8345.
Volunteers are taking damage assessments, as well as working with local charity organizations to provide cleaning and repair items.
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 5:35 PM.
