Entire towns in Kentucky left underwater following days of record flooding

Persistent heavy rainfall doused portions of the Southeast and Ohio Valley over the weekend, triggering record river rises in spots, daily rainfall records and even a dramatic water rescue.

Even as rain shifts, the threat of flooding is forecast to continue across parts of the southeastern U.S. throughout the week.

By Monday morning, three-day rainfall totals over 6.75 inches came in from the London and Corbin areas in southeastern Kentucky. Other Kentucky cities, like Bowling Green, Murray and Hopkinsville, as well as Jackson, Tennessee, recorded 4-6 inches of rain during that time.

Bowling Green set a new record on Sunday for the wettest February day on record, after 5.11 inches of rain were measured. The old record was 3.74 inches from 1975.

A state of emergency has been declared in Kentucky, which will open up state resources to support communities affected by the flooding rainfall. The Kentucky National Guard has also been activated.

Michael Dossett, Kentucky Emergency Management Director, said on Monday that first responders had been working around the clock for days straight saving lives throughout the entire weekend.

“Flooding is no stranger to us, we flood 12 months of the year,” he said. “Many times they are localized, on some occasions they reach significant levels. On this occasion, we have set records.”

The recent flooding catastrophe set new records for counties affected and amount of rain, Dossett said.

Gov. Andy Beshear also thanked those first responders, including river district director Scott Walker for his team’s water rescue efforts. He then shared a story and photos of emergency management leaders protecting one area’s vaccine supply from the flooding.

“Last night’s weather flooded the Lee County’s health department, causing the power to go and jeopardizing the COVID-19 vaccine being stored there,” Beshear said. “Thankfully the Kentucky river director Scott Walker and his incredible team, along with the Lee County Emergency Management, conducted a water rescue to ensure that their supply of vaccines was safe and they moved them to Wolf County because the generators were taking on water. Listen, these folks lost a number of vehicles this day, but they did not lose one dose of vaccine.”

Drone footage showed extensive flooding from swollen streams and rivers near Levi Jackson State Park, located south of London, on Saturday.

The deluge brought dozens of reports of street flooding. Portions of the Kentucky River reached major flood stage by Monday morning. At the Booneville rain gauge on the south fork of the Kentucky River, the water level crested at 44.3 feet on Monday, breaking the previous all-time record highest water level of 43.4 feet.

Water on roadways triggered a dramatic water rescue on Sunday afternoon in Tennessee. The Dekalb County Fire Department and other local emergency responders were dispatched to a vehicle accident after a truck slid off a water-covered bridge in the town of Liberty, located about 55 miles east of Nashville. Officials with the fire department said the vehicle was partially submerged in a swollen creek and had five passengers inside, including an infant. All were safely rescued. In addition to swift-water rescue teams, bucket trucks from local utility companies were deployed to complete the rescue.

More than 70 river gauges registered at minor or moderate flood stage on Monday morning, according to the Ohio Valley River Forecast Center. Since Sunday morning, dozens of river gauges recorded water level rises of 20 to 30 feet.

Luckily, water levels began to fall Monday night as dry weather expanded over the region. However, it may take until Tuesday night before river levels drop below flood stage.

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Meanwhile, farther south, the rain has not really taken a break in portions of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. A stalled front over the region is likely to bring rounds of rain to these areas into early Tuesday evening before the rain shifts eastward.

Overall, any single period of rain is unlikely be heavy enough for widespread flooding. However, any location that gets more than one downpour could experience localized flash flooding, especially between the Interstate 10 and I-20 corridors.

Downpours could also cause a brief period of reduced visibility for motorists as well as ponding on the roadways.

During Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the heaviest rain is forecast to shift eastward.

"During Tuesday night, a thorough soaking is in store for the central and southern parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, as well as northern Florida and southern and central South Carolina," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

"By Wednesday morning, the heaviest rain is likely to be confined to South Carolina, eastern Georgia, northeastern Florida and part of southern North Carolina as the storm system accelerates eastward," Sosnowski added.

The storm will then head out to sea later Wednesday, although showers and thunderstorms may continue to push southward over the Florida Peninsula into the evening.

According to the most recent update by the U.S. Drought Monitor on Thursday, Feb. 25, most of the Southeast has escaped drought status. However, many cities are running behind on rainfall so far in 2021.

New Orleans had recorded only 6.87 inches of rain so far this year, which is just 65% of normal since Jan. 1. Jackson, Mississippi, has reported only 62% of its normal rainfall so far this year. In Atlanta, only 7.33 inches of rain fell during the first two months of the year, which is about 83% of normal.

For these areas, the incoming rain will be a help to avoid a rain deficit going into the heart of spring as the strength of the sun increases and evaporation rates climb.

Some areas across the region, however, have had a very wet start to 2021.

In cities from Albany, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, on northward to Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, the repeated rounds of rain have brought above-normal rainfall totals, on the order of 125% of normal or more. Charlotte, for example, has recorded 9.38 inches of rain so far this year, which is 137% percent of normal.

While the bulk of the rain is forecast to slide south of Charlotte and may miss Raleigh entirely, part of the Southeast region may be at an elevated risk of flooding into Wednesday.

"The upcoming rounds of wet weather in this area could be enough to bring rivers across southern Georgia and the low country of South Carolina to near flood stage by the middle of the week," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Paul Walker.

Walker added that it wasn't out of the question that one or two locations reach moderate or perhaps major flood stage by Wednesday afternoon.

Once this storm system slides off the Southeast coast by Wednesday evening, a brief reprieve from the wet weather will be in store across the South as an area of high pressure settles overhead.

However, dry weather is not in the forecast everywhere through the end of the week.

A storm is forecast to dive southward across eastern Texas late on Friday then swing across the Florida Peninsula through the start of the weekend, AccuWeather forecasters say.

Showers are forecast to reach as far north as Jackson, Mississippi, and Montgomery, Alabama, but the heaviest rain may be more concentrated along the Gulf Coast and central Florida.

Even without the presence of heavy rain, additional rainfall late in the week may exacerbate any ongoing flooding issues from earlier in the week.

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