Flood — Fulton, Kentucky

2018-03-01 to 2018-03-17 · near Hickman, Fulton, Kentucky

Event narrative

Moderate flooding continued on the Mississippi River from late February. At New Madrid, Missouri, the river crested at 41.4 feet on March 5, well above the flood stage of 34 feet. A Hickman city police officer perished after attempting to drive through a flooded area on the night of March 2. The 45-year-old male was seen on the roof of his submerged patrol SUV shortly before being swept away with the vehicle. The victim and his vehicle were recovered from a flooded field early on the morning of March 3. Floodgates were raised at Hickman to protect the city. However, bottomland roads and cropland outside the floodwall were submerged. The cropland was mostly dormant this early in the season. Kentucky Highway 94 was closed in the bottomlands west of Hickman, along with several other state roads. The Dorena, MO to Hickman, KY ferry was closed due to the fast river currents and water over roads.

Wider weather episode

The large mainstem rivers remained well above flood stage following several rounds of heavy rain in late February. February monthly precipitation was 4 to 7 inches above normal, with monthly totals of 8 to 10 inches common. The mainstem rivers such as the Ohio and Mississippi crested early in March, and then fell below flood stage around mid-month.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.5700, -89.1800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 740887. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.