Flash Flood — Johnson, Kentucky

2015-07-13 · near Flatgap, Johnson, Kentucky

Event narrative

Flash flooding occurred in the Redbush and Flatgap communities, with devastating flooding occurring along Big Mudlick Creek and Ramey Branch. Four fatalities occurred and over 50 swift water rescues were performed in this area. Entire double wide houses were seen floating down Big Mudlick Creek and getting forced under a bridge. More than 150 homes were destroyed with as many as 500 homes being affected to some extent. While no rain gauges were located in this hard hit area, radar estimates indicate that around 3 of rain fell in an hour with brief rainfall rates of 6 to 7 per hour falling.

Of the four fatalities, one elderly woman and a disabled man were killed as they were trapped inside their mobile homes which were swept away by the flooding. A man was swept away after he got out of his sport utility vehicle as water rose around it. A fourth flood victim drown while attempting to rescue family members from the flood waters. He had successfully rescued his father, uncle, sister and nephew before being swept away.

Wider weather episode

Round one of what would be three rounds of severe weather inside of a 36 hour period began during the early afternoon hours as a thunderstorm complex raced southeastward across eastern Kentucky. This thunderstorm complex produced widespread wind damage across the entirety of eastern Kentucky. A few areas were also subjected to severe flash flooding where thunderstorms passed repeatedly over the same areas. This included the Flatgap/Redbush communities of Johnson County, Hays Branch of Triplett Creek in Rowan County and Buchanan Road in Fleming County. The hardest hit area was the Flatgap/Redbush community of Johnson County where devastating flash flooding occurred late Monday afternoon along Big Mudlick Creek and Ramey Branch. Four fatalities occurred in this area as over 500 homes were impacted.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.9371, -82.8799)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 584092. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.