Kentucky floods cause water rescues, evacuations. Risk of mudslides grows.
Heavy weekend rain caused significant flooding Monday in counties across the state, leaving some motorists stranded in impassable high water and requiring numerous home evacuations.
Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency late Sunday, and officials activated the state Emergency Operations Center to help coordinate the response. The declaration activated the Kentucky National Guard, which was helping with high-water emergencies, according to Beshear’s office.
As of midday Monday, 13 counties or cities had declared local emergencies, the governor’s office said. Those were Breathitt, Calloway, Casey, Elliott, Estill, Johnson, Knott, Magoffin, Owsley, Perry and Pike counties and the cities of Paintsville and Salyersville.
Flooding was expected to continue into Tuesday.
“The impact of extremely heavy rainfall and flash flooding across the commonwealth led to numerous emergency rescues and evacuations in counties from west to east,” said Michael Dossett, director of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.
Several Kentucky waterways were well above their flood stages, according to the National Weather Service.
- The Kentucky River was observed over 34 feet and was predicted to reach nearly 37 feet, according to a Monday forecast. The flood stage for that area is 21 feet.
- The South Fork of the Kentucky River at Booneville was observed at nearly 43.5 feet, which set a historical high. The level was expected to increase Tuesday morning, according to new forecasts. The flood stage is 27 feet.
- The Elkhorn Creek at Peaks Mill was observed over 11.6 feet and was projected to reach 11.8 feet, according to the National Weather Service. The flood stage is 10 feet.
- Stoner Creek in Paris was measured at 21.6 feet Monday. The flood stage is 18 feet.
Several Central Kentucky roads were temporarily closed late Sunday night into Monday because of high water, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Redhouse Road in Madison County was closed between mile points 10.5 and 10.7 because both lanes of the road were under water. Other open Madison County streets with high water included Crooksville, Tates Creek and Union City roads.
U.S. 68 in Mercer County was closed between mile points 4 and 6, but it reopened later Monday morning. Josephine Road in Scott County was closed in two places: between mile points 25.27 and 26 and between 13.19 and 20.09.
New closures were reported later Monday. North Middletown Road was closed in Bourbon County between mile points 10.36 and 14.25. Mina Station Road was closed in Clark County between mile points 0 and 2. Old Richmond Road was closed at the Fayette-Madison County line, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Rain totals in Lexington, elsewhere in Kentucky
Three-day rain totals from the National Weather Service showed Lexington with nearly 3.5 inches, but the rain was much heavier south.
Amounts in Warren County ranged from 5.7 to 7 inches. Other county totals included about 6.7 inches in Casey, 6.4 inches in Taylor, 6.3 inches in Barren, more than 5.8 inches in Boyle and more than 5 inches in Madison.
Rain amounts were slightly less in other areas. Jackson County had about 4.79 inches in a 48-hour period and Pulaski County had about 4.1 inches.
Bodies of water weren’t able to hold the large amounts of precipitation and runoff from the saturated ground, according to Meteorologist Ron Steve from the National Weather Service in Louisville.
‘Historical flood’ expected in Estill County
In Estill County, a “historical flood” was expected after the anticipated crest of the Kentucky River near Ravenna increased again Monday morning, according to the county’s emergency management agency.
The projected crest was set at 36.9 feet, less than 3 feet higher than the record high, according to emergency management. The stage for major flooding in the county is 31 feet.
“If you live in flood-prone areas, evacuate now,” the agency said in a Facebook post.
Melissa Riddell, a spokeswoman for the county emergency management office, said the flooding was the worst the county had seen since 1984.
Monday morning, firefighters, volunteers and county officials helped get people and some belongings out of homes surrounded by water.
“There were people that woke up this morning and their houses were completely surrounded by water,” Riddell said.
Eastern Kentucky nursing home evacuated due to flood
In Magoffin County, emergency workers helped evacuate the Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center because of floodwater from the Licking River.
Salyersville Mayor Pete Shepherd said 91 people were evacuated from the nursing home. Most spent the night at the county middle school, but a few had to be taken to hospitals.
Emergency workers also had to rescue three people from two different cars stuck in high water, Shepherd said.
“It was a hairy time,” he said.
Water covered streets in downtown Salyersville and got into the Salyersville Fire Department buildings. Shepherd closed off streets into town Sunday evening.
“We’ve got a lot of people impacted by this,” said Robert Prater, the county emergency manager.
Leslie Helton, a dispatcher at the county 911 center, said firefighters and others had had to help people get out of their homes to escape flooding.
“Everything is flooded,” she said.
Kentucky fire departments rescue drivers stuck in water
Fire departments all over Kentucky were sharing photos and videos of hazardous driving conditions.
“Don’t be the next one to take a boat ride with us,” Oil Springs Fire and Rescue said in a Facebook post. “It’s an expensive ride...”
Columbia police officers had to respond with other agencies to a driver who got a pickup stuck in high water, according to a Facebook post from the department early Monday.
Inez Fire Rescue said the city experienced flooding “that most have never seen in their lifetime.”
The Brodhead Fire Department reported that it had to help evacuate multiple homes because of flooding.
The Floyd County sheriff’s department reported a mudslide with a tree in the road on one county road. One road in the county washed out, leaving a car stuck on it.
W.R. Castle Fire-Rescue rescued two people and two dogs from a pickup truck stuck in water, according to a Facebook post from the department.
Fire departments, sheriff’s offices and police departments asked people to stay off water-covered roadways.
“If you come up on a covered roadway, please simply turn around and find another route,” the Belfry Volunteer Fire Department said.
‘It’s been hectic.’ Eastern Kentucky mudslides also a concern
After three winter storms hit Eastern Kentucky, causing widespread power outages, poor travel conditions and downed trees, emergency management crews are tasked with clean up for the fifth weekend, Pike County Judge-Executive Ray Jones said Monday afternoon.
Jones said the county is still trying to analyze and evaluate the damage from the weekend’s rain as they wait for the Tug Fork, Big Sandy River and Levisa Fork to crest. All are expected to surpass the flood stage.
“The question is how high will it get,” Jones said.
The flood’s damage spans across the county with mudslides, roads washed out and a Sunday night house explosion.
Jones said the good news is there is no more rain expected in the forecast, but the bad news is that many slopes in Eastern Kentucky are saturated and can lead to slips and slides above county roads.
“It’s going to be an extensive recovery process,” Jones said.
In Perry County, several homes were destroyed due to mudslides, and some people had to be rescued after driving into floodwaters, according to Perry County Emergency Management Director Jerry Wayne Stacy.
Stacy said they are continuing to monitor when the North Fork will crest. It is expected to go above the flood stage Monday night or early Tuesday morning.
Stacy said crews are spent after the series of ice storms.
“It’s been hectic,” he said.
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 7:39 AM.