Kentucky watches for surging rivers to recede so widespread cleanup can
begin
[April 08, 2025]
By BRUCE SCHREINER and KRISTIN M. HALL
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — After days of unrelenting downpours swelled rivers
to near record levels across Kentucky, residents closely monitored
waterways for signs they had crested, but freezing temperatures forecast
for Tuesday could complicate any cleanup efforts.
Freeze warnings were in effect until early Tuesday for western Kentucky,
along with parts of Illinois, Indiana and Missouri, with temperatures
potentially dropping as low as 28 degrees (minus 2.2 Celsius), according
to the National Weather Service.
“This is going to be a dangerous night where temperatures fall, where it
gets potentially below freezing, so if you’re somewhere that’s very wet,
if you’re trying to ride this out in a home that’s had water, tonight
could raise concerns of hypothermia,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said
during a news conference Monday, urging residents to find a safe place
to stay.
Inundated rivers are the latest threat from persistent storms that have
killed at least 23 people since last week as they doused the region with
heavy rain and spawned destructive tornadoes. At least 157 tornadoes
struck within seven days beginning March 30, according to a preliminary
report from the weather service.
Though the storms have finally moved on, the flood danger remains high
in several other states, including parts of Tennessee, Arkansas and
Indiana.
Cities ordered evacuations, and rescue crews in inflatable boats checked
on residents in Kentucky and Tennessee, while utilities shut off power
and gas in a region stretching from Texas to Ohio. Floodwaters forced
the closure of the historic Buffalo Trace Distillery, close to the banks
of the swollen Kentucky River near downtown Frankfort.
Officials diverted traffic, turned off utilities to businesses and
instituted a curfew in Frankfort as the river crested just short of a
record Monday. More than 500 state roads across Kentucky were still
closed Monday evening, Beshear said.
Several miles north of Frankfort, RVs were parked at a makeshift
campground Monday after fast-rising floodwaters chased a community of 90
RVs out of a park along the Kentucky River on Saturday. Everyone made it
out safe, although a few RVs had to be left behind and were quickly
submerged.
“It was quite an ordeal to just kind of wake up, hit the ground and
start running, make sure everybody was off the property, not only people
but the equipment and the RVs,” said Traci Yoder, manager of the RV park
and a resident herself.
Storms leaving devastating impact
The 23 deaths reported since the storms began Wednesday, include 10 in
Tennessee. Among the four confirmed killed in Kentucky, a 9-year-old boy
was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus.
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The rising Ohio River floods along Lower River Road, Monday, April
7, 2025, in Rabbit Hash, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The deaths also included a 5-year-old boy in Arkansas who police
said died after a tree fell on his family’s home, and a 16-year-old
volunteer Missouri firefighter who died in a crash while seeking to
rescue people caught in the storm.
The Kentucky River crested at Frankfort Lock at 48.27 feet (14.71
meters) Monday, just shy of the record of 48.5 feet (14.8 meters)
set there on Dec. 10, 1978, said CJ Padgett, a meteorologist with
the National Weather Service’s Louisville, Kentucky, office.
Beshear said more than 1,000 people had no access to water and
nearly 3,000 were under boil water advisories.
‘The worst I’ve seen'
Russell Harrod, 78, stood Monday morning looking at the floodwaters
surrounding the brick home in Frankfort where he’s lived for 40
years. He said the water rose quickly Sunday afternoon.
“That’s the worst I’ve seen, and I’ve been around a long time,” he
said.
In northeastern Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the
scene “absolutely heartbreaking” around the town of Hardy, which
took damage to its city hall and other buildings.
West Memphis, Arkansas, Fire Chief Barry Ealy told WREG-TV that
crews in the flood-prone city have rescued more than 100 people.
Why so much nasty weather?
Though significant rains have ended in the Southern Plains and the
Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys, flooding on most rivers
will persist this week, with some smaller waterways receding in the
next few days, according to the weather service.
Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an
unstable atmosphere, strong winds and abundant moisture streaming
from the Gulf.
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Anthony
Izaguirre in New York; Kimberlee Kruesi and Jonathan Mattise, in
Nashville, Tennessee; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Sarah
Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville,
Kentucky; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; Tennessee;
Obed Lamy in Rives, Tennessee; and Hallie Golden in Seattle.
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