Many areas at flooded Fort Boonesborough State Park closed until further notice

The heavy flooding over the weekend has forced Fort Boonesborough State Park to close temporarily. 

The park closure has been extended through April 23, and the campground and its power grid and facilities were heavily damaged during the flooding and will be closed through Sept. 23.

All other areas throughout the park — hiking trails, picnic area, boat ramp and the original fort historical site area are closed until further notice.

In Frankfort, the Kentucky River at Frankfort ended up cresting Monday morning a few inches below the record level set four decades ago, but many roads remain flooded, and the local water treatment system has been shut down due to high water throughout the area.

The river at Frankfort Lock and Dam #4 reached 48.27 feet at 5 a.m. Monday, just shy of the 48.5 mark established in December 1978, but has still led to numerous high water and flooding issues in the Capital City.

The Frankfort Plant Board had to shut off water treatment efforts on Sunday due to the high river level. Although their storage system was filled to capacity, they are urging residents to conserve water usage. That prompted the closure of all state offices in Frankfort, due to the potential of a water shortage developing. Many businesses, especially in the downtown area, are also closed due to river flooding reaching their front doors.

Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson asked residents in the flooded areas to evacuate their homes. “We have three shelters that are open now. We’ve only had to house less than 50 families so far, including their pets, but we do have capacity for a couple hundred more.”

Wilkerson also declared a dusk until dawn curfew in the affected areas, Sunday night into Monday, and has issued another curfew for Monday night into Tuesday, to protect private property and allow crews dealing with the flooding to operate safely.

He added, “We want to make sure that people don’t get overconfident just because the wager is receding some. It’s still very dangerous, particularly around the edges.”

So far, two deaths have been reported due to the flooding. Nine-year-old Gabriel Andrews of Frankfort was swept away by floodwaters while walking to his school bus stop Friday morning; while a Nelson County woman, whose name has not been released, was found dead in her car, which was in the flood waters.

Gov. Andy Beshear warned there could be a third casualty in Western Kentucky. “We can report that we have a missing person in McCracken County. There is an ongoing search, and we are very worried, so we ask for everybody’s prayers in that search.”

A flood warning remains in effect for much of central Kentucky until noon on Tuesday and for the Kentucky River at Frankfort until Wednesday evening.