Kentucky is bracing for a “problematic” night with freezing temperatures on the way to complicate standing water and wet conditions following a four-day flooding event, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.
Areas that have flooded over the last four days — areas around Frankfort, Louisville, Paducah and Hopkinsville — are forecast to hit 32 degrees and below overnight Monday, accordiang to the National Weather Service.
“This is going to be a dangerous night where temperatures fall, where it gets potentially below freezing,” Beshear said during a Monday press conference alongside Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Kentucky Emergency Management officials and Frankfort and Franklin County representatives.
“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,” Beshear said.
This forecast comes while the Ohio River at Louisville is at 64 feet — double its normal depth — and flood walls closed Friday in preparation. The Ohio River at Paducah is 45 feet, higher than it was even during the February floods.
The Kentucky River at Frankfort is also flooded at nearly 49 feet, much higher than its normal depths of under 20 feet, according to the United States Geological Survey.
“It looks like the water level is not going to get as high here in Frankfort as previously thought,” Beshear said. “Right now, it looks like the levees are holding and it looks like the water is receding faster than originally thought.”
Still, emergency officials have asked Frankfort residents to continue conserving water while the city works to bounce back.
“The lieutenant governor and I live here. We both live in Frankfort. We’re both conserving water, like we’re asking everybody else to do right now,” Beshear said. “This is very personal to us, and we’re going to make sure that everybody in this city, as well as others that have been impacted, can get back up on their feet, and that we can move forward.”
Frankfort is also under a dusk-to-dawn curfew Monday night. A road sign is submerged by the swollen Kentucky River in Frankfort. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)
By the numbers
As of Monday morning, state officials reported:
- Two people have died in the flooding.
- One person is missing in McCracken County.
- 1,788 are without power.
- 2,847 are under a boiled water advisory.
- 538 state roadways are closed. This does not include local road closures.
- 52 shelters are open. Across the state, 45 households are sheltering in state parks, 10 are in hotels and 79 are staying in temporary housing units.
- 354 Kentucky National Guard members are mobilized to help with storm response.
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license from Kentucky Lantern, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist and Kentuckian. She has covered everything from crime to higher education. In 2020, she started reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has covered health ever since.
