Flood — Bath, Kentucky

2020-04-29 · near Moores Ferry, Bath, Kentucky

Event narrative

A low lying road near Peasticks and Salt Lick in Bath County, Adams Road, saw water levels gradually come up and produce a steady stream of flowing water as daily rainfall amounts topped out at 1-1.5 inches. An Amish family, initially attempting to cross this, decided to turn around. However, their horse lost its footing and slipped into the water, causing the carriage to overturn and plummet into the water. The horse and adult driving the carriage escaped the water, but all five children on board were swept downstream and unfortunately perished.

Wider weather episode

An intense area of low pressure moved into the lower Great Lakes region early this day, subsequently producing gusty south to southwest winds across much of eastern Kentucky during the late morning to early afternoon. Several gusts of 40+ mph were measured, while a couple of reports of trees downed were also received (near Williamsburg in Whitley County and near Glencairn in Wolfe County).

Here are some of the wind gusts recorded (comprised of ASOS/AWOS and KY Mesonet reports):

44 MPH - 1 NE Vest (Knott County)

43 MPH - 3 E Dorton (Pike County)

43 MPH - 2 N Prewitt (Montgomery County)

43 MPH - 1 WNW Preston (Bath County)

42 MPH - Big Black Mountain (Harlan County)

41 MPH - London-Corbin Airport (Laurel County)

40 MPH - Koomer Ridge (Wolfe County)

40 MPH - 1 WNW Index (Morgan County)

40 MPH - Tucker-Guthrie Memorial Airport (Harlan County)

40 MPH - 2 SE Peabody (Clay County)

40 MPH - NWS Jackson/Julian Carroll Airport (Breathitt County)

Rain showers then moved into the eastern reaches of the Commonwealth throughout the afternoon. While daily rainfall amounts topped out at 1-1.5 inches, a low lying road in Bath County saw water levels gradually come up and produce a steady stream of flowing water. An Amish family, initially attempting to cross this, decided to turn around. However, their horse lost its footing and slipped into the water, causing the carriage to overturn and plummet into the water. The horse and adult driving the carriage escaped the water, but all five children on board were swept downstream and unfortunately perished.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.1645, -83.6587)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 879418. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.