Flooding in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday night into Sunday morning forced people to climb on top of their vehicles, as well as the roofs of buildings, and led to boat rescues and evacuations.
Dozens of people in homes hit by flooding of low-lying areas around Louisville and Jefferson County had to be evacuated overnight, some by rescue personnel using boats, authorities said Sunday.
A potent storm front rumbling across the nation’s midsection is being blamed for nearly 6 inches of rain that drenched the region Saturday, swamping some low-lying neighborhoods with water from ankle-deep to waist-deep in spots, Metro Safe spokeswoman Jody Duncan said.
“We had about 82 people that we assisted because of flooding in specific areas,” said Duncan, with the local emergency management agency for the city and the county. “We had 12 rescues and 250 assists. Everybody’s safe and we had no injuries.”
She said most had to be taken from their homes but personnel also helped stalled motorists safely get out of vehicles that had stalled on swamped roads. Several of those evacuated took shelter in a high school and others in a church.
The spokeswoman for the Emergency Management Agency and Metro Safe for the Louisville and Jefferson areas says rain remains a continuing threat until the front clears out by Monday. She said weather reports indicate another inch or inch and a half of rain could still fall later Sunday as another portion of the system sweeps the region.
Duncan said waters had receded somewhat in the early hours Sunday when rain lightened up.
Nevertheless, she said a large arts show that started Friday in Louisville was shut down around 5 p.m. on Saturday and was canceled Sunday, the last day of the event.
The drenching rainstorms were part of a cold front sweeping the area late Saturday, prompting flash flood warnings for more than two dozen counties in and around Louisville and parts of southern Indiana. Some of the watches remained in effect early Sunday.
Louisville Metro officials listed several streets and thoroughfares that were at least partly closed off because of flooding. Photographs posted on social media sites showed floodwaters partly submerging cars and at least one swollen creek swirling with dark brown waters.
Locations affected by the flash flooding include Pleasure Ridge Park, Middletown, Anchorage, Fairdale, and Fern Creek, according to the National Weather Service.
Flash flood prone areas include Pope Lick Creek and Chenoweth Run.
