At least 3 dead in 'historic' Kentucky flooding. Emergency disaster declared

Taylor Six, Lexington Herald-Leader on Feb 16, 2025

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At least three people died Saturday evening as heavy rainfall and severe flooding swept across the state.

One man was found dead in floodwaters in Clay County. The county coroner identified him as 73-year-old Donald Keith Nicholson. Officials said he drove through water covering KY 80 in the Horse Creek community, near Manchester.

In Hart County, a 7-year-old girl died after being swept away by floodwaters, according to TV station WNKY. The child’s mother also died, and her body has not been recovered. Officials say their vehicle was submerged at Campground Road, near Priceville Road, at the bridge along Bacon Creek. Their identities have not been released.

Rainfall began statewide Friday evening and continued throughout all day Saturday. More than 300 roads were closed in Kentucky on Sunday morning, and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet described the impact as “historic.”

“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,” Gov. Andy Beshear posted on social media.

Beshear will hold a news conference about the weather at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

President Donald Trump declared a federal emergency for the state Sunday, freeing federal funding for impacted areas. The National Weather Service Louisville reported the state received 3 to 6 inches of rainfall on top of previous heavy rainfall in recent days.

Rain hammered much of the state, but many of the most affected areas were in Eastern Kentucky — a region that was also devastated by flooding in summer 2022.

The destructive flooding caused significant damage to Kentucky Power, according to company officials. More than 18,000 customers were without power Sunday morning. Blocked roads from high water, mudslides and downed trees have been reported throughout the southern part of Kentucky Power’s territory, according to the company.

Access to many of the areas is not possible due to flooding and blocked roadways. Pike County has nearly 6,000 customers without power, and Knott County has about 2,200 customers. Breathitt, Floyd, Leslie, Letcher, Martin and Perry counties also have significant outages.

Hazard, in Perry County, was one of the hardest-hit cities in 2022, and officials said Saturday night the current situation was worse.

“More announcements as water subsides and cleanup begins, but this is far worse in town than it was in 2022. Please pray for Hazard tonight,” the city posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Lee and Floyd Counties were also heavily affected by the rainfall. In Lee County, officials shared a photo of a flooded county courthouse.

Jenny Wiley State Park in Floyd County is being used for shelter, Beshear 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.

Flood watches in Eastern Kentucky were canceled Sunday morning, and shortly thereafter, a winter weather advisory went into effect with up to 2 inches of snow expected in parts of the state.

“If a road isn’t flooded, it could have some slick spots from the snow,” the weather service said.

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