The Richmond residence where two people died in a flash flood late last month flooded previously, in 2012, city records show.
In that incident, firefighters commenced a water rescue to look for two missing people. They were later accounted for, unharmed.
The latest incident, June 27, turned deadly after a storm dumped several inches of rain on parts of Madison County in just a few hours, flooding the basement of 306 University Drive again.
In Madison County, three people were killed in the flooding — two at the Richmond address and another in a vehicle outside the city. Statewide, three others died in Hardin, Jackson and Jefferson counties. Roads, bridges, homes and churches were damaged or destroyed, and state and local emergency personnel performed dozens of water rescues.
Details of the 2012 flood and water rescue at 306 University Drive come from a Richmond Fire Department report obtained through a Kentucky Open Records Act.
A Richmond Police Department report sheds light on the June deaths at the same address, though some details in that report, including names, were redacted.
The basement of the University Drive rental is divided into five apartments, city records show.
There is only one way in and out, with no access to the upper floors. When the basement flooded last month, two people did not make it out after water gushed through the door, trapping them.
“I feel pretty certain that there would be some life safety issues with that sort of configuration,” said David Stumbo, an associate professor in the School of Safety, Security and Emergency Management at Eastern Kentucky University.
Patricia Beck, 51, and John Powell, 57, were pronounced dead by the Madison County coroner. Reports from that office indicate they drowned.
County property tax records show the owner, Joseph Van Fleet, bought the house in 2022. Attempts to reach Van Fleet by phone and email were not successful.
Van Fleet told Lexington’s NBC affiliate, WLEX-18, he doesn’t plan to rent the basement units in the future.
Regardless, the city does not require Van Fleet to file for a permit to rent the units in the 1,200-square-foot finished basement. According to Richmond’s planning and zoning department, the property is in a zone that allows multi-resident occupancy.
The residence is in a low-lying area of the city. Downtown Richmond is on one side and Eastern Kentucky University on the other, with the property near the bottom between them.
Other tenants who lived in the house, which also has first- and second-floor apartments, remain in limbo. After the June 27 flood, city officials marked the address with orange stickers indicating the structure is unsafe for occupation.
Madison Circuit Court records show a tenant who was evicted from one of the basement apartments had signed a lease agreeing to pay $525 a month for the unit in January 2024.
Van Fleet filed an eviction complaint later that year after the tenant failed to pay three months of rent, totaling $1,575. Court records show Van Fleet has filed eviction complaints against several tenants since he purchased the property.
The 2012 flood
Records from the Richmond Fire Department show the basement of 306 University Drive flooded Aug. 3, 2012. The incident report, written by firefighter Byron Coffman, shows some similarities to what happened this June.
The home’s owner at the time told firefighters all five basement apartments were occupied and three of the tenants had safely evacuated, with two more missing.
Firefighters observed water 6 to 8 inches from the top of the entrance door. The power to the residence was still live.
Two firefighters suited up for a water rescue while a crew pumped water out of the basement. An unnamed employee of EKU disconnected the power.
A total of four firefighters entered the basement to perform a search, including Coffman. They broke down the locked door of one unit but found no one inside.
A bystander then told the fire chief the two missing people were located away from the scene.
The 2026 flood
While the 2012 flood was a close call, a heavy rainfall event late last month proved deadly.
A report from the Richmond Police Department shows officers arrived at the home at 10:20 a.m. June 27.
Officer Rebecca Foster noted in the report that areas of the city had seen multiple feet of floodwater in basements and on roadways, and local and state agencies were responding to water rescue calls.
“The entire roadway and front yard of 306 University Drive were submerged in water from the flash flooding,” Foster wrote. “Walking up to the residence, I was wading about thigh-high in the water.”
She spoke to a person whose name was redacted from the report and learned two people were trapped in the basement. Foster was unable to see the basement door because it and the exterior stairs leading to it were completely submerged.
She was told tenants in the basement had gathered to discuss the flooding in the hallway when the exterior door burst open and water began gushing inside.
Foster was also told Beck had attempted to save her cats, but she couldn’t swim.
Another tenant attempted to save his dog, described as “a large black and brown mutt” who panicked and ran back into the apartment. That tenant escaped, but the dog was trapped.
At some point, Foster learned Powell, who tenants described as “a man named John,” because they didn’t know his last name, was also in the basement.
The fire department, Madison County EMS and the Madison County coroner responded to the scene, Foster wrote.
After the water began to recede, officers broke two of the basement windows in an attempt to make contact. They received no response.
The power to the residence was still live, and no water rescue could be safely conducted until it was shut off.
Pumps were used to drain the basement, and “after many hours,” the bodies of Beck and Powell were recovered.
What the law requires
Open records requests to the city produced no inspection reports, certificates of occupancy or construction permits for 306 University Drive.
“Yeah, I mean that's the way it goes a lot of times with small rental property,” Stumbo said. “With the building codes and the life safety codes, it's tricky when you get into these grandfathering situations.”
Chris Johnson, the city’s attorney, said in a statement neither state law nor the city require a permit for long-term rentals.
State law “concerning the state building code specifically carves out an exemption for single-family residential properties from obtaining permits, inspections, and certificates of occupancy and the city has not opted to require these either,” Johnson said.
He said the city had received no habitability complaints about the property. Records show Van Fleet was fined twice by the city for garbage piled on the curb next to the house.
“No complaint or evidence sufficient to provide probable cause was ever made to the city to trigger an investigation prior to these deaths,” Johnson said. “Should a complaint be made now, the city will follow its authority under the law as to a determination of its habitability.
“Had a potential habitability code violation report been made,” Johnson continued, “the city would be limited in the actions it could take under both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and its state equivalent found at Section 10 of the Kentucky Constitution.”
