LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Is was a washout in Southern Kentucky as downpours were seen across the Bluegrass, forcing some areas to be under flood watches and warnings.
Although Kentuckians are far too familiar with floods, some areas like Corbin and East Bernstadt don't normally see this level of rainfall too often.
"Oh no this is the first time I've ever seen it this high. When I seen pictures and stuff like that when I was on route I was like 'I'd never seen it get this bad in Corbin man,'" said Isaiah Benjamin, a Corbin resident.
"If you don't have to be on the roadway, don't be out traveling until some of this calms down and you know if you see a flooded roadway don't take the risk," said Chief Darren Pennington with the East Bernstadt Fire and Rescue.
In East Bernstadt, East Pittsburgh Church, Slatelick, and Mary Cemetery roads had to be closed off to travelers because of the rising water on the road.
"We sort of hit the road early just to get an eye on what was happening in our district this morning. We noticed, you know, we had a few roads that was starting to flood. We made a call to the EM director to sort of get things prepared. And um, so with that said, we went on out and shut down a few roads this morning," explains Pennington.
Several creeks in Southern Kentucky overflowed, pushing water into neighborhoods and onto busy roads. This forced Laurel County rescue crews to jump into action and remove some people from their homes.
Pennington details that East Bernstadt only had one water rescue and hopes more won't be required. "We've had one here earlier today, which is on Bullock road which is in the Pittsburgh area. We assisted two male subjects out of their house that was beginning to flood on them."
In Corbin, water rushed in and out of the city quickly. Some areas turned into temporary lakes, while other areas didn't experience flood damage. Mobile homes near creeks and at the bottom of hills experienced the most devastating parts of the flooding.
"Primarily down in like creeks or lower areas, or like if there's a river or something like that. But yeah it's getting real bad. I work for Amazon, and we was getting pictures in like Barbourville and Corbin and Pinveville. Where I was in Pine Knot by Williamsburg. It was flooding real, real bad," Benjamin explains.
Benjamin also is an Amazon driver that said delivering packages was almost impossible. "There was a lot of packages that didn't get delivered today you know with how bad the weather simply is, and there's like you know no other alternate routes."
"If you don't have to be on the roadway, don't be out traveling until some of this calms down, and you know if you see a flooded roadway, don't take the risk," Pennington warns.
As more rain is expected to sweep across Kentucky, it's best to stay weather aware with our LEX 18 Weather app and follow us online.
