Kentucky flooding: ‘Major, major damage’ as rivers crest, cut off some areas
Floodwaters began receding in several hard-hit Kentucky counties Tuesday as weary officials and residents prepared to take stock of the damage to homes, businesses and roads to soon clean up and rebuild.
Significant flooding occurred in several Eastern Kentucky counties, where one county official said the high water was “unlike anything most of us have ever seen.”
At least one spot — the South Fork of the Kentucky River at Booneville in Owsley County — reached a record water level. It crested at 44.3 feet Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
“We’re gonna have major, major damage,” Owsley County Judge-Executive Cale Turner said Tuesday.
Michael Dossett, head of Kentucky Emergency Management, said there were 49 local declarations of disaster across the state as of Tuesday evening. “This is going to be one that will go into the record books.”
Weather service flood warnings were extended for communities along the Kentucky River.
The Kentucky River was “the river of most concern, ” WKYT Chief Meteorologist Chris Bailey said.
The river was expected to crest at 38.9 feet Tuesday near Ravenna, in Estill County, 17.9 feet above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service.
Downstream, however, the river was not projected to crest until Wednesday at Ford and Thursday at High Bridge and Frankfort.
The projected crest at Frankfort was just shy of 40 feet, the threshold for “major” flooding, according to the weather service.
Beattyville roads underwater after ‘unprecedented’ flooding
Beattyville, where the three forks of the Kentucky River come together, was underwater after “major, unprecedented” flooding, according to Lee County Emergency Management. Video and photos showed the damage. Beattyville police said the water was beginning to subside on inundated Main Street early Tuesday, but several roads were still impassable.
“It’s kind of making it a maze to try to get places right now,” a Lee County Emergency Management official said in a Facebook post Tuesday.
County officials hoped to start recovery efforts on Main Street Tuesday if receding water levels dropped enough.
Jon Allen, the Lee County emergency manager, said the water reached a depth of 6 to 7 feet in downtown Beattyville, getting into several businesses. Bays at the ambulance department flooded, destroying some supplies, but workers had moved the ambulances out before the flood, Allen said.
Emergency workers evacuated about 20 residents from a mobile home park in town and took them to an American Red Cross shelter. There also were evacuations elsewhere.
The flood level could set a record, he said.
“It’s a 100-year flood,” he said. “It’s bad.”
County officials advised anyone wanting to offer assistance to Beattyville and Lee County to call officials in the judge-executive’s office at (606) 560-0721.
“We are already ramping up for this to be a declared FEMA disaster,” the emergency management office said.
Fears of road collapse in Breathitt County
In Breathitt County, an urgent new problem came up Tuesday afternoon even as the flooded North Fork of the Kentucky River went down slowly.
Judge-Executive Jeff Noble said he and the county emergency management office ordered evacuations in a section of Jackson, the county seat, after discovering that high water was eroding Ky. 15, where the road separates the river and Panbowl Lake.
A break would be “devastation like no other,” Noble said.
Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday afternoon that about 1,000 people were being evacuated in Jackson. The evacuations affected a hospital, a nursing home as well as homes and businesses.
The Kentucky River Medical Center was almost evacuated by 4 p.m., Beshear said
Beshear said the swollen North Fork of the Kentucky River was putting pressure on a dam under Ky. 15 at the lake.
Transportation Secretary Jim Gray said state dam safety inspectors, engineers and geologists were working on the problem. Workers were using sandbags to reinforce the area weakened by erosion, Gray said.
An emergency shelter at Breathitt High School had been opened earlier after North Fork hit its crest overnight at about 39 feet, according to the National Weather Service.
Floods cut off access to parts of KY towns. Emergency shelters open
The Kentucky River rose so high in Estill County that Irvine, the county seat, was essentially cut off Tuesday morning, said Melissa Riddell, spokeswoman for the county emergency office.
“This flood is like nothing most of us have ever seen,” the agency said in a Facebook post.
Riddell said rescuers were still helping get people out of houses surrounded by water Tuesday. The water had continued rising to threaten additional homes, she said.
“They had a list a mile long” of people wanting help, but rescuers had to wait until daylight to start getting to them, Riddell said.
The Helping Hands Outreach emergency shelter in Estill County was opened Monday to accommodate people who needed to leave their homes, according to a Facebook post from the organization.
High water from the overflowing Red River damaged several houses and businesses in Clay City, in Powell County, said Stacey Patton, the city clerk.
Some homes and businesses will have to be gutted for repair, Patton said.
Patton said the water level neared the record flood of 1978. Some gas tanks were pushed out of the ground and caused large sinkholes to open up, Patton said.
The city was seeking donations of cleaning supplies through the Powell County Office of Public Information, Patton said.
In Owsley County, where the South Fork of the Kentucky River crested Monday at nearly a foot over the old record, Turner, the judge-executive, said high water and mudslides damaged numerous homes, businesses and roads.
Turner said some residents left their homes in advance of the flooding, but Kentucky State Police officers, firefighters and other volunteers helped evacuate people who didn’t get out in time.
In one case, a state trooper waded into the water to reach a home and two children jumped into the water to meet him while others helped their parents, Turner said.
The water was receding Tuesday, Turner said.
In Perry County, the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Hazard hit its crest Monday at nearly 24.8 feet and had since heavily declined, according to the National Weather Service. But the county was still feeling the effects. The county also experienced mudslides.
“Many residents are suffering, and we ask everyone to remain vigilant and safe,” the Perry County Fiscal Court said in a Facebook post.
‘Floods are the way of life in Eastern Kentucky’
Jacolby and Denise Qualls spent Tuesday cleaning up their Main Street Performance and Repair shop in downtown Martin, in Floyd County.
In front of their shop was water about a foot deep and a white car abandoned in the floodwater. Beaver Creek is directly behind their shop.
Jacolby and his brother Corey have owned the shop for about two years.
“We literally lost everything,” Denise Qualls said as she hosed mud off of mats in front of her shop. “There is nothing salvageable on Main Street.”
She said she waded out to the auto shop, and in some areas, the water came to her shoulders.
Dave McKinney, the founder of Floyd County’s 100.1 FM, walked three miles to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints in Martin because the roads surrounding his home were flooded. The church was opened Tuesday to provide 200 meals for those affected by the flooding and first responders.
McKinney said the flood is similar to one in 1984 that hit Floyd County.
“Floods are the way of life in Eastern Kentucky,” he said.
As of Tuesday morning, Floyd County Emergency Management handled almost 80 calls related to flooding.
Prestonsburg Fire Chief Mike Brown responded to a call of a woman with chest pains. The road was flooded, and they rescued her by boat. Other rescues and a fire have occurred.
After the series of winter storms, his crew is at its limit, Brown said.
“Everyone was saying 2021 was going to be better, but so far, it’s been a kicker,” Brown said.
Floyd County Emergency Management Director Tim Fields said after the floodwaters go down, the county will have many road problems and possible mudslides.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 8:55 AM.