Flood in Johnson County, Kentucky

Water was covering the U.S. Highway 23 ramp to KY Highway 40, making it impassable.

Several rounds of heavy rain moved across eastern Kentucky from late Friday, February 26th through early Monday, March 1st. The combination of all the heavy rainfall led to significant flooding across a good portion of central and east Kentucky. For some areas, this was the most significant flooding in the last 50 to 60 years, or more. FEMA estimates that this event cost $350-400 million dollars in damages, including both individual and public infrastructure. This is now the costliest event in Kentucky to date.

The first round of heavy rain came through on the morning of Saturday, February 27th. This early rainfall targeted areas along the Hal Rogers Parkway, including Laurel, Clay, Perry, and Knott counties. Flash flooding let to some closed roads for a short time in these areas.

The second round of rainfall occurred late Saturday night as a warm front lifted northward across east Kentucky. The heavy rain stalled out over portions of Powell and Menifee Counties, leading to flash flooding into the early morning hours of Sunday.

Finally, the third round of heavy rain started late Sunday afternoon and continued through Sunday night. Given that much of the area had already received significant amounts of rain from the past two events, the ground was very saturated, and this last round caused widespread flash flooding across much of east Kentucky. As water made it's way to the larger creeks and rivers, these began to flood as well. River levels on the Kentucky river were some of the highest readings ever recorded, namely at Booneville and Ravenna. Clay City, Heidelberg, Jackson, Paintsville, and Salyersville also saw significant river flooding of which hadn't been seen in 40 to 50 years.

The periods of heavy rain and flooding led to numerous water rescues and mud/rock slides. Many areas were cut off or blocked due to the flooding. Power outages were also noted and reached as high as 12,000 during the peak of the flash flooding Sunday night.