Richmond and Madison County officials say emergency crews have completed search and rescue efforts from Saturday’s flash flooding and have turned their attention to damage assessments.
Madison County saw roughly 10 inches of rainfall over the weekend. It was one of several parts of the state inundated by severe flooding that left four people dead, three in Madison County and one in Jackson County.
Gov. Andy Beshear described the flooding as “significantly widespread” to CNN News Central Monday, and said there was moderate river flooding.
Jill Williams, Madison County deputy judge-executive, said Monday response teams are assessing the damage in partnership with the Kentucky Department of Emergency Management.
“You have everything from water flooding homes to homes not being there anymore, so it definitely varies by individual,” Williams said. “Our emergency management team and our county office, our judge executive, our focus is on getting the resources to people that they need, and that could vary, and there's limitations on what can be done, but it's working with those folks to identify the needs, and then getting them with the right people.”
The damage assessments will be reported back to the state and to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Williams said crews completed all primary and secondary water searches before dark Saturday night.
“Then our crews went out yesterday and went door to door, and again to determine if there are specific needs of people in certain areas, but it is definitely a rebuild effort at this point and recovery, no longer a rescue,” Williams said.
Crews have been out since Saturday repairing roads and making them passable. Williams said she thinks most water service has been restored in the county, as well.
Richmond City Manager Rob Minerich said officials are out taking inventory of damage to possibly receive reimbursement from the FEMA. There are also community organizations mobilizing drop-off sites and recovery efforts.
Minerich said flood debris drop-off would start Tuesday near Madison Central High School on Georgia Street. The site will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
“We are asking people to only drop off stuff that was related to the flood and not just be bringing their own trash, because we're going to be inundated by a lot of material,” Minerich said.
People who bring debris will be asked to show their Madison County driver's license.
This is all part of the effort to track the damage for FEMA. Minerich said the city and county are recording time spent, materials and equipment used in recovery efforts.
“Our local governments are working very hard to give everybody all the support we can,” Minerich said. “The people of Madison County are resilient, and the way everybody came together Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and even today, it's truly a team effort.”
