‘Too much rain at one time.’ Kentucky governor declares emergency over flooding, damage

Gov. Matt Bevin declared a state of emergency Monday in Kentucky over flooding, joining several counties and cities that did the same after heavy rain made dozens of roads impassable.

Bevin said in a tweet Monday the state was “working with FEMA to see what federal help might also be available.”

As of Monday, the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management received 36 county and 11 city emergency declarations, according to a press release from the governor’s office. Some people were marooned in houses by water-blocked roads, some streets were cracked or washed away.

Bevin’s declaration of emergency authorizes the mobilization of the National Guard and allows Kentucky Emergency Management to work with the American Red Cross and local officials to determine the need for emergency shelters throughout the state.

Magoffin, Martin, Jackson, Johnson, Wolfe and Letcher counties declared emergencies during the weekend. Doing so allowed counties to receive assistance from state agencies or through the National Guard, according to John Bobel, public information officer for the Lexington’s Division of Emergency Management.

Bobel said counties can also expedite internal purchasing when emergencies are declared.

In Perry County, officers from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources searched the North Fork of the Kentucky River at Hazard Monday for a possible missing man, according to Kentucky State Police.

A motorist saw a bicycle off Ky. 550 near the river Sunday and thought he recognized it as belonging to a man he knew.

Troopers found personal items that, along with information from the caller, led authorities to believe that the bicycle belonged to a local man named Danny “Tin Can” Napier, who was last seen by relatives Saturday morning, according to a news release. Authorities could not search along the river on Sunday because of high water.

In Magoffin County, some people were stranded in their houses Monday afternoon because of high water and road closures, said Robert Prater, Magoffin County emergency management director.

“Right now, it’s just a game of catch up,” Prater said. “We’re a small county and we’re limited on our resources at this time. But we’ve got people working on it, and we’ll get them help as soon as we can.”

More than 100 people were evacuated from Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Saturday, but they were back in the facility Sunday night, Prater said.

Record discharges from Wolf Creek Dam into the Cumberland River led to flooding below the dam and the closings of several roads, according to Greg Cary, emergency manager for Cumberland County. Emergency crews used boats on Sunday to remove several people from their homes because of the blocked roads.

Lonnie Scott, emergency manager in Clinton County, said there were several roads blocked in the north end of the county because of the high rate of discharge from Wolf Creek Dam. There may be people isolated in their homes as a result.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was releasing 58,540 cubic feet of water a second at 7 a.m. Monday from Lake Cumberland through the dam. The amount was, by far, the most ever released; the old record was 40,000.

Even with the record drawdown, the water level at Lake Cumberland continued to rise Monday, reaching 756.38 feet above sea level at 3 p.m. Monday. That was more than four feet above the old record of 751.69 from May 1984.

Power had been restored by Monday afternoon to about 75 percent of the 9,100 Kentucky Power customers affected by the weekend’s weather. Crews faced mudslides, rockslides and high water that blocked access, Kentucky Power said in a release.

High rainfall caused flooding in Martin County roads and several homes and damaged culverts and bridges, according to its emergency manager, Eric Jude.

“We do have significant damage,” Jude said. “Too much rain at one time.”

Roads in Whitley County were also blocked by water as well as mudslides, according to Danny Moses, the county’s emergency manager. He was not aware of any homes that were flooded, but water over roads blocked many residents inside their houses. Some roads were damaged..

Water had also backed up from a creek onto University of the Cumberlands’ football field Monday morning.

“It still looks like lakes where it should be a field,” Moses said of several areas in the county.

David McGill, emergency manager in Harlan County, said rock slides or mudslides closed one lane of U.S 421 near Bledsoe and one lane of Ky. 987, but he was not aware of any homes flooded or other emergencies.

“We was greatly blessed,” he said.

This story was originally published February 25, 2019 at 10:44 AM.