10 flood warning signs are being placed in five eastern Kentucky counties. Funding for the “turn around, don’t drown” signage comes from the National Weather Service. Road signs have gone up in Bath County. Jackson Meteorologist Tony Edwards says signs will also be installed in Breathitt, Johnson, Magoffin, and Owsley counties. He says last year was the deadliest year for flood death in Kentucky since 1997. We had ten deaths across the state from flooding and those included deaths in Lee County, Madison County, and Johnson County,” said Edwards.
Record flooding is being seen in Louisiana with reports of 20 thousand rescues. Jackson Meteorologist Tony Edwards says Kentucky is not likely to see that kind of rainfall, but major flooding is always possible. “You know I saw some amounts over 30 inches in Louisiana. It would be very hard to get that amount here in eastern Kentucky, but you know, ten to 15 inches could cause catastrophic flooding here. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities. It’s happened before, it can happen again,” noted Edwards
Officials with the national weather service say even though Kentucky accounts for slightly over 1% of the U.S. population, flood deaths over the past two decades have accounted for almost 5% of the total flood deaths in the country.?
