Neighborhoods near the Ohio River will continue to see flooding this week, after a historic round of storms that ended Sunday.
Monday brought blue skies over drying roads and sidewalks for many neighborhoods in Louisville, but those next to large bodies of water aren’t out of the woods yet. Near the Ohio River, which has risen more than 20 feet since last week, homes and businesses are inundated by flood waters.
Emergency crews rescued about 60 people from the Candlewood Suites hotel on River Road Monday afternoon. Every road leading into the hotel is impassable, so guests had to be taken out by boat. Nearby, on Mellwood Avenue in the Clifton Heights neighborhood, at least one home was inundated with several feet of water and multiple vehicles were partially submerged.
Over the weekend, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the city is experiencing flooding similar to what it saw in 2018, when taxi driver Abdinasir Siyat died after driving into a flooded underpass.
“If you see areas of water, do not drive through them,” Greenberg urged. “Please turn around. It’s not worth anyone’s safety, it’s not worth any risk to try to drive through water. You might not think it’s deep, but you could get stuck or worse.”
Dozens of roads in Louisville remained closed as of Monday morning, according to a list provided by Metro Public Works. On Monday afternoon, the Metropolitan Sewer District closed an additional two flood walls around the Ohio River to protect homes and businesses from the rising tide, spokesperson Sheryl Lauder said in an emailed statement. A total of seven flood walls are closed.
MSD is running all of its 16 flood pumps, according to flood protection operations director Dane Anderson. About 55 of the city’s 150 flood gates were closed during the storms to help alleviate inland flooding.
“It looks like it’s going to be a top ten event for us,” Anderson said Monday morning.
MSD experienced some “minor issues” in its response to the historic rains, including pump failures.
They had to shut down one of the eight pumps at the Beargrass Creek Pumping Station, near the flooded area on Mellwood Avenue. That station can pump 2.5 million gallons of water from the creek into the Ohio River every minute at full capacity.
“The rain has kind of stopped, so now we’re just trying to stay ahead of this creek water and the inland flooding that’s taken place,” Anderson said.
The cause of the pump failures, Anderson said, is MSD’s 70-year-old system.
“It’s like taking an old car, starting it up every month, and then all of a sudden you’re going to put it on a road trip and run it across the country,” he said.
The four-mile, $221 million water protection tunnel, which began operation three years ago, was one of the first tools MSD used, filling it quickly after the storms began, Anderson said. That was 55 million gallons of combined stormwater and wastewater that didn’t have to be pumped into the Ohio River.
For now, the river is continuing to rise. It’s risen 20 feet since the rain began last Thursday and it’s expected to crest on Wednesday, April 9.
Officials said Louisville’s flood pump stations will be stressed until the river starts slowly receding later this week.
Sewer overflows
On Monday, MSD lifted its request to residents not to use water-intensive appliances like dishwashers and washing machines to prevent sewer overflows and backups.
Sewer overflows happen when combined stormwater and wastewater come out of manhole covers or flow into drainage ditches and creeks because the system has reached capacity.
Last week, the city said MSD also got “an influx of calls” about wastewater backing up onto people’s property or even inside their homes. Residents were asked to wait to see if the backup would end after the rain stopped.
A spokesperson said there are multiple factors that can cause wastewater backups, including system capacity as well as roots and clogs on the property.
Debris drop-off
Louisville has opened nine storm debris drop-off sites across Jefferson County for residents who have downed trees because of the heavy rainfall or tornado damage. Only tree debris will be accepted at the sites and residents must provide their name and address.
The drop-off sites will be open April 7 through April 11 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, April 12 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The drop off sites are:
- Shawnee Park, 4501 W. Broadway
- Tom Sawyer Park (Enter from Tom Sawyer Drive)
- Charlie Vettiner Park (Enter from Mary Dell Road)
- Highview Park (Briscoe Lane entrance)
- Fern Creek Park, 8703 Ferndale Rd.
- Hubbards Lane Recycling Center, 595 N. Hubbards Ln.
- 535 Meriwether Ave.
- Fairdale Recycling Center, 10618 W. Manslick Rd.
- Public Works Yard, 10500 Lower River Rd. (Enter from Bethany Lane)
This story has been updated to reflect new information about flood wall closures.
