Flood — Owsley, Kentucky

2020-09-13 · near Sturgeon, Owsley, Kentucky

Event narrative

Candy Branch Road (Mahaffy Road) was reported flooded near the community of Sturgeon.

Wider weather episode

Deep moisture anchored across east Kentucky, combined with a stalled frontal boundary, then a cold front, led to several rounds of heavy rain from the evening of September 12th through the early afternoon hours on September 13th. This rain led to many reports of flooding and flash flooding, with several water rescues occurring during the late evening hours of September 12th. Rainfall amounts ranged from 2 to 5.5 inches in the area where the heaviest rains fell.

In Powell county, at the Middlefork Campground, a truck was caught up in flood waters, but all passengers were able to get to safety. Powell County search and rescue were also involved in getting people to safety in the Indian Creek area of the Red River Gorge.

In Menifee county, 30 to 40 campers had to seek higher ground as the Red River Adventure Campground saw extensive flooding. Two other campers had to be rescued who were camping near Brushy Creek in the northern part of the county.

In Morgan county, the cow branch community saw extensive flooding, along with significant flooding in and around West Liberty. Several roads sustained damage in West Liberty. There was also extensive flooding along Spaws Creek. Bethany Enterprise Baptist Church along war creek also saw some damage to their property.

Finally, in Jackson county, there were several instances of roads being shut down due to flash flooding, especially late Sunday morning into Sunday afternoon with a second surge in rainfall.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.4338, -83.7910)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 912752. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.