As unceasing rain and flooding pummel portions of Kentucky and Tennessee, state officials urge residents to stay vigilant as rivers crest and recede over the coming week. At least 10 Tennesseans and four Kentuckians have died in the wave of severe weather.
Across the region, businesses and downtowns in riverside cities and towns were inundated and homes washed out. The encroaching floodwaters have forced people from their communities as several Kentucky rivers reached towering crests, with some approaching record levels.
Some portions of western Kentucky saw as much as 15 inches of rainfall last week, with the heaviest showers falling near Paducah. National Weather Service Meteorologist Mark Jarvis said the severe weather system lingered over Kentucky, causing the massive flooding the state is seeing now.
The probability of this occurring — these rainfall amounts that we saw of 12 to 15 inches across Kentucky — it's about a 0.1% chance in any given year that you would see that,” Jarvis said. “This is a relatively rare event, but they do happen.”
In Frankfort, the Kentucky River reached near historic heights; the 48.39 feet fell just short of a 1978 record. It was dangerously close to the 51 feet of water that the city’s floodwalls are designed to withstand. Where the Ohio River passes next to Louisville, the waters are expected to crest Wednesday with the downtown lock expected to see 67.9 feet — a likely top 10 flooding event but nowhere near the record 1937 flood. Kentucky’s Green River and Rolling Fork River are also experiencing or likely to experience major flooding.
The National Weather Service also confirmed Monday that an EF-3 tornado hit Jeffersontown in Louisville last week with 145 mph winds. The tornado tore through a couple commercial properties and damaged several other buildings and homes. It is the strongest tornado to hit Jefferson County in decades.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that a woman died due to flooding in Nelson County over the weekend, and a McCracken County man who went missing while trying to retrieve his boat on the flood waters was found dead. The first Kentucky fatality was a 9-year-old boy who was swept away in floodwaters in the state capitol Frankfort while walking to his bus stop. Another man died after fording through floodwaters in Trigg County. The sheriff’s office confirmed that he died after getting out of his stalled car, saying the cold and wet conditions may have contributed to his death.
“We're just looking at days. And we want everybody to be safe,” Beshear said. “Remember, several rivers and creeks remain at or above the flood stage and roadways remain underwater in several areas.”
Kentucky state government offices have closed as the emergency plays itself out, including drivers’ licensing offices and court buildings in Frankfort. More than 500 state roadways remain closed.
In Tennessee, at least 10 people have died across western portions of the state and a devastating tornado with 160 mile per hour winds damaged more than 300 structures in just one county. One small town near the Kentucky-Tennessee border, Rives, was almost entirely underwater yesterday after the Obion River overflowed, according to the Associated Press, forcing most residents to evacuate.
President Donald Trump swiftly declared an emergency disaster declaration, freeing up national aid for Kentucky and Tennessee alike. Beshear praised the swift aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“We're going to be applying for individual assistance as well as public assistance here, we're going to need those people to stay in the Commonwealth, and they are doing some of the best work that I've seen,” Beshear said.
In Kentucky, Beshear said that more than 130 households are sheltering in state parks, hotels and temporary housing units, along with dozens more through the United Way’s assistance and 139 individuals getting shelter assistance from the American Red Cross.
According to Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson, the city has had to house under 50 families in temporary shelter thus far. He said people should limit travel to downtown, through which the Kentucky River snakes.
“We want to make sure that people don't get overconfident just because the water is receding some,” Wilkerson said. “It's still very dangerous, particularly around the edges. I want to make sure that now that the daylight’s here again, we're going to have a lot of people probably coming downtown to look at the river. Please don't get too close to the edge.”
On Monday morning, former Frankfort Mayor John Sower stood on his porch, defying evacuation orders. Sower and his wife Phyllis stayed behind as flood waters fully encircled their house, filling their basement with standing water.
“It’s more than 4 feet right now, and we’ve got stuff floating all over at the base of the stairs going down to the basement,” Phyllis said. “We are so grateful that it didn’t make it down to the first floor of this house.”
State officials urge Kentuckians to evacuate before flood waters get too high and require swift water evacuations.
Water sanitation systems are also struggling to keep up with the high water levels, and some are asking residents to conserve their water use, including in Frankfort and Louisville. Some 1,100 people are without running water in the state and several thousand under boiled water advisories.
The city of Versailles had to shut down its water intake at the Kentucky River due to extreme water levels. Woodford County gave away free bottled water in the county park Monday. Hundreds of people, including James R. Baker, came to collect water. Baker said he lives a few miles from the river but the floodwaters have filled his crawl space and took out his heat pump.
“We're in a lot better shape than unfortunately a whole lot of people in Woodford County and all of central Kentucky are ours, I guess you would deem as a minor inconvenience compared to what other people are going through,” Baker said.
The weather service is still working to confirm several potential tornadoes across the state and in southern Indiana from last week. Jarvis said survey teams are on the ground in western Kentucky and Louisville.
This story has been updated with additional details.
WEKU Reporter John McGary and Kentucky Public Radio’s Justin Hicks contributed to this report.
