Heavy rains expected to bring flooding across county, state

FRANKFORT (KT) – The National Weather Service (NWS) is urging Kentuckians to make their preparations now for the possibility of flooding this weekend, as a Flood Watch has been posted for the entire state from Friday night into Sunday, as up to six inches of rain is being forecast.

“We’re expecting a lot of rain, because we have Southwest flow ahead of a big upper low-pressure system that will funnel into the Ohio Valley,” said John Gordon, head of the NWS Louisville office. “This has not changed very much throughout the week, although there have been little subtleties here and there.”

Andrea Schoettmer, hydrologist with the NWS in Louisville, said, “Looks like we’ll have widespread minor to moderate river flooding across the state, even some isolated major river flooding in Central and Eastern Kentucky is possible. The most at risk areas for moderate river flooding would be points on the Kentucky River, the Cumberland River and the Green River.”

They added, as those rivers all empty into the Ohio River, it could see flooding later next week.

“The forecast rain is enough to cause flooding anywhere in the state,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday during his weekly press conference. “We are pre-positioning and/or alerting swift water rescue teams. We’re working with Fish and Wildlife to make sure they are ready. We’re talking with neighboring states’ National Guard, to make sure that we have the number of helicopters that we might need, and depending upon how the forecast looks on Friday, we’ll be pre-positioning National Guard for assistance. That is something we are in the planning stage of right now. Before we call-up and mobilize Guard members, we want to see one last forecast.”

Beshear said they have already checked with the state parks for availability of lodge rooms, if that becomes necessary for a coup[le days for those displaced from their homes, as well as possibly bringing out the travel trailers used after the severe weather and flooding in 2021 and 2022.

Gordon adds after the heavy rain exits the state, conditions next week will be extremely cold.