Live updates: Emergency flooding evacuations, death toll rises as heavy rains pound KY
Many Kentuckians were keeping a wary eye on rising rivers and streams Saturday as another day of heavy rain pounded the commonwealth.
The National Weather Service projected moderate to major flooding on some stretches of the Kentucky River, with high water anticipated to linger for days in some places, and officials in Pendleton County issued an emergency evacuation order for residents to leave Falmouth and Butler.
The death toll from the multi-day rains and storms rose to two on Saturday.
A 74-old Nelson County woman was found dead in a submerged car on Saturday morning, according to local officials. A 9-year-old Frankfort boy died Friday morning after being pulled into floodwaters while he was walking to his bus stop.
The rains have severely impacted travel, too.
Gov. Andy Beshear said around 9 a.m. Saturday that 390 Kentucky roads were closed due to flooding, mud or rockslides, a jump from the 200 road closures reported on Friday.
Beshear urged people to stay off the roads if possible so crews can work to reopen roadways.
“Crews are working hard to get these roadways clear and safe. As rain continues to impact Kentucky, please avoid travel if possible and never drive through water,” Beshear said on X.
Evacuation order issued in Pendleton County
Officials in Pendleton County issued an evacuation order for residents in Butler and Falmouth, according to posts on the Facebook page for Pendleton County Emergency Management.
The order was to clear out Butler by 4 p.m. Saturday, and Falmouth by 8 p.m. as the Licking River began to cover city roads and creep toward houses Saturday morning.
Butler had shut down its sewer plant early Saturday because of high water.
The posts announcing the evacuation orders said that while people might think their houses are safe, they might lose utility service, and first responders might not be able to reach them.
“Now is the time to leave,” the posts said.
Powell County hit hard by flooding
Powell County Judge Executive Eddie Barnes said the Red River, which was expected to crest on Friday night, had spilled over and has flooded almost all of downtown Clay City on Saturday.
“We now have 20 roads closed,” Barnes said.
There had been five water rescues, and multiple homes in Clay City were flooded. A shelter had been opened at the Stanton Elementary School, where several Powell County residents spent Friday night, he said.
“There have been no deaths and no injuries,” Barnes said.
However, with more rain expected in the next 24 hours, Barnes said residnets were bracing for more flooding.
Driving through floodwaters is not only dangerous, but it can also cause damage to homes, Barnes said.
“We’ve had some vehicles drive through the center of Clay City. When you drive through a foot of water, it’s pushing that water into homes, causing more flooding and damage to property,” he said.
Fatality in Nelson County
Nelson County Coroner Danielle Chladek said a 74-year-old woman died when after driving her car into a flooded area on a rural road.
The incident happened about 4 a.m. so the woman likely didn’t see the road was flooded, Chladek said.
The woman called 911 after getting stuck, but died before firefighters arrived in response to the call, Chladek said.
Officials had not released the woman’s name as of late afternoon.
Nelson County was hard hit by the flooding.
Rescue teams were to be stationed in the Boston and New Haven areas to help get people out of flooded homes, and firefighters in Boston were helping residents evacuate if they wanted to leave, according to Brad Metcalf, the county emergency manager.
Boston is at a spot where road access for cars and pickup trucks is cut off if the water gets high enough, leaving the small town as an island.
The city had been cut off by road since Saturday morning, though the Kentucky National Guard had high-wheeled vehicles that could get in, Metcalf said.
Guard troops were taking in supplies for people who chose to stay in Boston, including water, bread and milk, Metcalf said.
The weather service extended a flood warning for the Rolling Fork River near Boston until Thursday morning.
A rescue in Owen County
Tim Cammack, emergency management deputy director in Owen County, said rescue squad members were using a boat to help someone out of a house in a flooded area of the county about 7:30 p.m.
Rescuers had also had to use ropes to help a family of three whose car slid off a flooded area of of a road on Friday, Cammack said.
No one in the family was injured, but if the car had gone off the opposite side of the road it might have turned over, trapped the people and ended badly, Cammack said.
Cammack said if the Kentucky River reached the projected flood crest of 55.5 feet at Lockport, that would top the level of the 1997 flood and send water into half or more of the houses in the small town of Monterey, depending their elevation.
Officials were expecting there will be water in some houses in the county before the river crests, which is projected for Monday afternoon.
“We just don’t know if it’s going to be a few or several,” Cammack said.
Many residents of Monterey had left by Saturday afternoon.
Burgin in Mercer County underwater
Burgin Mayor Joe Monroe said Saturday morning that multiple streets were closed in the Mercer County town of slightly fewer than 1,000 residents.
No businesses have been damaged, but eight homes have flooded, he said Saturday. Those homeowners were able to stay with friends and family. The city has not had to open a shelter.
Still, the city’s two water pumps were working overtime to rid Burgin of floodwater, Monroe said. Burgin sits on karst topography and a cave system, which means the water has nowhere to go.
“We are getting so much water, that it can’t run off,” Monroe said. No one has lost power, and the city’s water and sewer system has not been overrun, he said.
Monroe, like other local officials, also asked people not to come to Burgin and stay off the roads.
“Please stay out of the flood area and quit sightseeing,” Monroe said. “We have looked at some of the license plates, and most of these people aren’t from here.”
Burgin fire department has not had to rescue anyone from flood waters, but traffic on the roads will only hamper water rescues, Monroe said.
Frankfort faces flooding, road closures
About 10 roads in Franklin County, including some in downtown Frankfort, were closed due to high water on Saturday, said Franklin County Judge Executive Michael Mueller.
Many homes, particularly those around the Elkhorn Creek and Kentucky River, had taken on some water, particularly in basements, he said.
A video of a structure floating on the Kentucky River in Frankfort was posted on X on Saturday, but Mueller said the structure was not likely from Franklin County originally.
“We aren’t sure if it was a house or if it was a boat house,” Mueller said. “It may not have come from Franklin County.”
The structure briefly hit the Singing Bridge in downtown Frankfort, but it did not cause any damage, Mueller said.
There have been no swift-water rescues reported in Frankfort. However, Gabriel Andrews, 9, died Friday morning after being pulled into flood waters while walking to his bus stop.
The Kentucky River is projected to crest at 44.2 feet at 8 a.m. Monday. That would mark the river’s fourth-highest crest on record, according to WKYT meteorologist Chris Bailey.
Many people who live close to the Kentucky River have self-evacuated. The county also has three large campgrounds that were evacuated due to high water, he said.
All eyes on the Kentucky River
At 5:40 a.m., the service issued an advisory extending a flood warning for the Kentucky River at Frankfort until further notice.
The river was at 37.5 feet at 5:30 a.m. and was expected to continue rising for two days before cresting at 44.2 feet Monday morning, causing major flooding, according to the weather service.
The advisory included a list of roads that flood at different river stages, including Travis Circle, Onans Bend Road and Polsgrove Road at 36 feet; Paul Sawyer Drive, East Second Street, East Fourth Street and Admirals Landing at 40 feet, as well as warehouses along Great Buffalo Trace Rd; and Indian Gap Road, Bates Road, and River Valley Road at 43 feet
Also at 43 feet, Bellepoint would be cut off, the water plant would be affected and water would cross Wilkinson Boulevard at Reilly Road, the weather service said.
The weather service also extended a flood warning for the Kentucky River at High Bridge Lock, affecting Mercer, Jessamine and Garrard counties, until Wednesday evening.
The river was at 38.1 feet at 5:25 a.m. Saturday and is expected to rise to 41.1 feet about midnight Saturday, then fall Sunday morning before rising back to 42.5 feet Monday morning, the weather service said.
The weather service said that at 30 feet, significant parts of Dix Drive flood, and at 36 feet, water starts to get into homes.
The weather service said Saturday a flood warning continued for the South Fork of the Licking River at Cynthiana until Monday afternoon.
Early Saturday, the river was at 21.3 feet and was expected to crest Sunday afternoon at 22.9 feet — just below the level of 23 feet at which some homes on the west side of town flood — before falling below flood stage Monday.
At 20 feet, much of the park floods, and several streets flood at 22 feet, the weather service said.
Voluntary evacuation order in Henry County
Henry County Judge-Executive Scott Bates said at 1:30 pm Saturday he was preparing to issue a voluntary evacuation advisory for people to evacuate from Lockport, a community on the Kentucky River, and other low-lying areas along the river.
The river was projected to crest Sunday at 55 feet, which would put it above the 1997 flood but not quite to the level of the catastrophic 1937 flood, Bates said.
There was already water in some homes in the county Saturday.
“It’ll just get into more homes” with the projected rise overnight and into Sunday, Bates said.
Bates said many people near the river keep boats and will use them to leave if needed.
Concerns on the Green River
Emergency managers and first responders in many Kentucky counties had been preparing for days to respond to potential flooding caused by a stalled storm front that had dumped rain on parts of the state for days, and that work continued Saturday.
Charlie Tomes, the emergency director in Butler County, said he was keeping tabs on roads blocked by high water in order to come up with alternate routes for ambulances if needed, and was probably going to take water and ready-to-eat meals to the fire department in Rochester, a small town on the Green River, because of the potential for flood waters to surround the town.
“If Rochester gets cut off, that’s going to be a problem,” he said.
Tomes said some residents of the town had left because of the potential for water to get into their homes or for them to be stranded.
As of midday Saturday, flood and flash-flood warnings remained in effect for dozens of counties from northeast Kentucky to the far western end of the state.
The weather service said it had received reports of 10 to 13 inches of rain falling in some Western Kentucky counties in the 72 hours before the middle of the day Saturday, and more rain was forecast in some places.
Tickets for driving around barriers
Ronnie Pearson, emergency manager for Warren County, said 30 roads remained closed Saturday afternoon, but that the Barren River had stabilized and another contributor to flooding, Drake Creek, had receded.
There was some minor flooding in basements, but the flooding locally had not been as serious as some places further west in Kentucky, he said.
Pearson said the county has not allowed new home construction in the floodplain for many years and that helped reduce the potential for damage.
Pearson said a 9-year-old boy was sucked into a storm drain Friday during the flooding but people were able to pull him out and he was not injured.
Peason also said authorities had had to rescue several people after they drove around barricades and into flooded areas on Saturday
Police had written tickets for several people.
“Most of them that were cited were adults and should have known better,” Pearson said, noting that such cases create danger for drivers and first responders.
This story was originally published April 5, 2025 at 8:47 AM.
