Flood — Simpson, Kentucky

2018-02-24 · near Flat Rock, Simpson, Kentucky

Event narrative

A man drowned in a submerged vehicle near Flat Bridge on Kenny Perry Drive. High water covered the road and the bridge was closed. The man went around the barricades blocking the road. His car was found downstream.

Wider weather episode

Repeated rounds of moderate to heavy rainfall across the entire Ohio River basin totaled between 8 to 9 inches across central Kentucky from February 15 to February 28. These totals were generally 7+ inches, or 200 to 400% of normal values for mid to late February. The large areal extent of the excessive rainfall led to significant rises on area rivers, including the Ohio River. The Ohio River along the Indiana and Kentucky border rose into Moderate to Major flood stage. This resulted in numerous flash flood reports across all of the central Kentucky counties including road closures, road washouts, water rescues, and 1 flood fatality in Simpson County. Kentucky Emergency Management reported damages to public infrastructure exceeding $3.5 Million reported from nine central KY counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.6951, -86.5356)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 736714. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.