(Update: The death toll has reached 12 from the weekend flooding.)
By Mark Maynard
Kentucky Today
Eastern Kentucky is reeling again from flood waters with at least eight people dead after a weekend of heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.
Several Kentucky Baptist pastors in Pike County had to be evacuated from their homes Saturday night, according to Jason Johnson, the associational mission strategist for the Southern Pike Association of Baptists.
“The river seems bigger than I’ve seen in my life, and I’m 45,” said Johnson, a lifelong resident who is also the pastor at Creekside Baptist Church.
Creeks and rivers throughout Eastern Kentucky made roads impassable — including the Levisa Fork, a tributary of the Big Sandy River.
The water crept over the banks and flooded large portions of northern Pikeville, in Pike County, with water surrounding Pikeville High School and reaching the 50-yard-line of the football stadium.
The school was serving as a shelter for displaced families providing food, bathrooms and showers.
Johnson said he has already been in touch with Ron Crow, the director of the Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief. Crow is already organizing teams of volunteers and asking Kentucky Baptists to pray for an area that less than three years ago was devastated by flooding. KYDR volunteers spent several weeks in eastern Kentucky after the 2022 summer floods ravaged the area.
“Not only is the physical flooding affecting many communities, but the emotional stress will also continue to create fear and anxiety to those who have been affected in the past,” Crow said in an email memo Saturday night. “We desire to bring help, hope and healing to those affected by this disaster. We are working to mobilize our teams to respond when and where needed.”
Johnson said he was working with KYDR to find churches for the teams to stay while working in the area in the coming days. He said he was opening Creekside as a clearing house for donations of water, cleaning supplies and gift cards. He said Walmart, Lowe’s and Dollar General are the preferred gift cards if anyone wants to donate.
Johnson said several Kentucky Baptist churches have suffered devastating water damage including Faith Baptist in Myra, Immanuel Baptist, Elkhorn City Baptist, Virgie Baptist and Mayflower Baptist.
“I’m from here, been here all my life,” Johnson said. “This (flooding) is really bad.”
It was bad everywhere with all 120 counties in Kentucky reporting flooding. Some areas were much worse than others with Eastern Kentucky being the hardest hit.
A Clay County man, 73-year-old Donald Keith Nicholson, was found dead in floodwaters Saturday evening. Officials said he drove into water covering KY 80 in the Horse Creek community, near Manchester.
In Hart County, a 7-year-old girl and her mother died after being swept away by floodwaters, according to TV station WNKY. The child’s mother has not been recovered.
In all, three died in Hart County; two died in Pike County; and one died in each of Washington, Clay and Nelson counties. The deaths were attributed to floodwaters and more could be coming, Beshear said.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said the flooding impact was “historic” with more than 300 roads closed in Kentucky.
More than 1,000 rescues have been made since 12:30 p.m. Sunday with the state in a search-and-rescue mission, Beshear said.
Oneida Baptist Institute, a private Christian school in Clay County, posted on its Facebook page Sunday morning the water at the school was higher than the 2021 flood by about 6-8 inches.
Kentucky Power reported severe damage from the flooding with more than 18,000 customers without power on Sunday morning. Blocked roads from high water, mud slides and downed trees have been reported throughout the southern part of Kentucky Power’s territory, the company said.
More than 39,000 people total were without power, Beshear said.
“Kentucky, we are seeing dangerous and life-threatening conditions across the state, and things are only going to get tougher due to widespread flooding and incoming weather,” Beshear posted on social media. He later addressed the situation at a press conference.
President Donald Trump declared a federal emergency for the state Sunday, opening federal funding for impacted areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is already on the ground.
The National Weather Service in Louisville reported the state received 3 to 8 inches of rainfall on top of previous heavy rainfall in recent days.
The Kentucky River Medical Center in the city of Jackson closed its emergency department and was transferring all patients to two other hospitals in the region. The hospital said it would re-evaluate conditions Sunday to determine when it can safely reopen. The north fork of the Kentucky River was forecast to crest nearly 14 feet (4.3 meters) above flood stage that afternoon, the weather service said.
Photos posted by authorities and residents on social media showed cars and buildings underwater in south-central and eastern Kentucky. In Buchanan County, Va., the sheriff’s office said multiple roads were blocked by mudslides.
The Simpson County Office of Emergency Management in Kentucky said authorities performed several rescues from stalled-out vehicles in floodwaters.
“Stay home if you can,” the office said on Facebook.
One hundred and forty-two people are being housed at state parks with availability at Pine Mountain, Cumberland Falls and Natural Park. Jenny Wiley State Park in Floyd County is being used but is full, the governor said.
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System campus in Breathitt County is also being used as a shelter facility, according to Ryan Quarles, the system’s president.
Emergency shelters are open in Breathitt, Harlan, Knott, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Martin, Magoffin and Wolfe counties.
Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster with the NWS, said the impact of the downpours would “continue for a while.
“Any time there’s flooding, the flooding can last a lot longer than the rain lasts,” he said on Sunday.