State of emergency declared in Kentucky following devastating flooding
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A state of emergency has been issued for several western Kentucky counties after slow-moving thunderstorms unleashed an epic deluge of water early Wednesday morning. Several people were forced from their homes and many roads were washed out after more than 10 inches fell in some towns.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Paducah, Kentucky, warned the flash flood damage threat could be "catastrophic" for Graves, Carlisle, Ballard and Hickman Counties. All of these counties are located in western Kentucky, just north of the Tennessee border.
According to the NWS office in Paducah, the storms unleashed 4 to 6 inches of rain across parts of western Kentucky as of 6 a.m. CDT. In Wingo, located roughly 10 miles north of the Tennessee-Kentucky border, 4.86 inches of rain fell between midnight and 2:15 a.m. local time. The NWS noted several water rescues were being conducted in Wingo as of early Wednesday morning.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in Kentucky on Wednesday afternoon hours after the flooding began.
"This action will allow us to better support our fellow Kentuckians during this difficult time," Beshear said. "More rain is expected today - please stay alert and safe."
Storm chaser Brandon Clement shared a video from the scene showing just how high the water rose overnight in Wingo. Water levels could be seen reaching the wheels of several trucks in a parking lot. The water levels reached the porches of many homes in the area.
"This is the second time it's done it since I've been here. First time wasn't this bad," a Wingo resident named Tommy said to Clement. "Just a steady rain...[It came] pretty fast."
In Mayfield, which was struck by a catastrophic EF4 tornado in December 2021, the NWS reported several water rescues were being conducted in the city as floodwaters rose early Wednesday morning.
"Major flooding like many have never seen is occurring," the Graves County Sheriff's Office wrote in a Facebook update Wednesday morning.
Sheriff Jon Hayden wrote on Facebook that a shelter was opened at His House Ministries for those who were affected by the flooding.
The sheriff's office said a portion of Highway 80 was impassable due to the amount of water on the roadway, KFVS reported. Additionally, the department said many roads looked like rivers or deep streams as of Wednesday morning.
Oak Grove Road was completely washed out in Graves County by the floodwaters on Wednesday morning. According to WPSD Meteorologist Noah Bergren, the moderate drought in western Kentucky likely made the effects of this flood worse. With no time for the ground to soak up the rain, the water turned several roadways into raging rivers and washed out multiple roads in the process.
This is the result of over 10" of rain in less than 12" hours. I have to think our severe drought played a role in this you may not realize initially. Ground was sooooo dry, lot of this may have never had chance to seep into the ground soil and ran off even more. Making the... pic.twitter.com/SAFMzjgAEy
— Noah Bergren (@NbergWX) July 19, 2023
According to the Kentucky State Mesonet, in Mayfield, 11.28 inches of rain had fallen is less than 24 hours on Wednesday.
The Kentucky State Mesonet is a statewide weather and climate monitoring network that is comprised of 30 automated weather monitoring stations across the state.
If the 24-rainfall measurement at Mayfield is confirmed by the NWS, it could break the state record. The 24-hour rainfall record stands at 10.48 inches, measured in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 1, 1997.
"So much of the water was brown today...brown from dirt left from vacant lots after the EF4 tornado in 2021," Bergren wrote on Twitter. "Just hard to stand in the same identical place and witness two different natural disasters."
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