Record flooding hits Western Kentucky, governor declares state of emergency

A flash flooding event hit much of Western Kentucky late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, flooding neighborhoods in Mayfield and surrounding areas.

Mayfield was one of the hardest hit cities in the historic December 2021 tornado event that killed more than 70 Kentuckians. The tornado’s impact was concentrated in Western Kentucky.

The rain event broke a Kentucky record, according to WKYT Chief Meteorologist Chris Bailey. Mayfield picked up 11.22 inches of rain in 24 hours, breaking the previous record set in Louisville of 10.48 inches.

Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon, allowing the state to use more resources to assist the area.

The National Weather Service in Paducah called a flash flood emergency for the area Wednesday morning. It’s set to last until 1 p.m. Central Time. The emergency area encompasses most of Graves and Carlisle counties as well as parts of Hickman and Ballard counties. The group advised area residents to move to higher ground and avoid walking or driving through floodwaters.

The NWS in Paducah also recently issued flash flood warnings for several other counties in the Purchase Region of Western Kentucky.

Noah Bergren, a meteorologist at local television station WPSD, tweeted that the area will receive 8 to 12 inches of rain in the event. The amount of lightning in the region has also been remarkable, he said.

“I have never in my life seen such continuous, cloud-to-ground (striking) lightning like I have today in western Kentucky. This is going on 8 straight hours. I am truly beyond being in awe at this point,” Bergren wrote.

Entire streets in Mayfield were covered by floodwaters, per footage from storm chaser Brandon Clement.

Paducah had many flooded roads too, according to the Paducah Police Department.

“It can be very difficult to see how deep thee water is,” the department said in a Facebook post. “Please exercise caution if you have to get out.”

Mary Lamm, a hydrologist in the NWS Paducah office, said Wednesday the flooding had been recorded at nearly 10 inches in some areas, with much of the emergency averaging around 4 to 8 inches of floodwater. With rain still falling as of 11 a.m. Wednesday, Lamm said she expected the flood depth to continue to grow until rain is forecasted to subside around noon.

“Conditions should start improving probably around mid-late afternoon,” Lamm said. “There will still be places that are flooded as runoff continues. We’ll see creeks stay pretty high and we have roads that are washed out right now.”

Later, NWS Paducah tweeted that a “narrow corridor” of light to moderate rain in the area will dissipate by 2 p.m. local time.

Lamm said the area surrounding Mayfield and stretching north into western McCracken County had been the hardest hit thus far, with “numerous water rescues and evacuations” ongoing.

She stressed that area residents should stay off the roads and that drivers especially ought to avoid flooded roads.

“If you come across a flooded road, turn around and go another way. It’s not worth risking your life and our emergency services are overloaded right now with water rescues. If you don’t have to be out, stay home,” Lamm said.

Gov. Andy Beshear tweeted Wednesday that his office was working to assess the damage.

“Please pray for Mayfield and areas of Western Kentucky impacted by significant flooding from last night’s storms. We’re working to assess the damage and respond. Just like every challenge we’ve faced, we will be there for all those affected,” Beshear wrote.

This is a developing story and will be updated.