Saturday, May 01, 2010

High Water in Christian County, KY

Heavy rains cause flooding in low areas


South Fork of Little River, east of Hopkinsville

Here in Christian County, KY, we've had 24 hours of rain and thunderstorms, and we're expecting more of the same for another 24 hours.

High winds last night snapped off one of our hybrid poplars about six feet above the ground and tore several branches out of other trees. About 4:00 AM we had a tornado warning for our immediate area, so I got out of bed and sat in the hallway until that storm passed over. Twice, the wind took on a frightening volume, and the house shuddered under its force. I suppose the tree broke during one of those episodes.

I heard on the radio that Hopkinsville has received about 5 inches of rain. Fort Campbell is reporting about 4.3 inches of rain. I don't know how much rain has fallen in our part of the county, but all our little streams are very full of water.

The photo above was taken about 5:00 PM today, just west of the Little River Church of Christ on Highway 68/80 east of Hopkinsville. The vehicle in the distance (center left) is at the bridge on the Little River Church Road.  The South Fork is running over the bridge and road there. Backed-up water is threatening the Little River Church and parsonage. Those buildings have endured many floods.

The flooded ditch at our mailbox
On the Little River/Vaughn Grove Road, the water was very nearly over the Warrens Fork bridge. I called Isaac and warned him to use a different route when he came home later.

We saw several wild turkeys feeding at the edge of a cornfield. At first, I thought that they might be picking corn seeds out of the ground. Then I realized that they were probably feasting on earthworms that had come to the surface.

Right now, Fort Campbell's radar shows a big, fast-moving mass of intense weather coming into Christian County from the southwest. Currently, we have a tornado watch and a flash flood warning. A mighty blast of wind and hail passed through here a few minutes ago. I read on the Weather Underground for Hopkinsville that golf-ball sized hail was reported on a road about a mile from us. We will see in the morning if any damage was done.

UPDATE: WKDZ Radio's photos of flooding in Christian and Trigg counties

2 comments:

Genevieve Netz said...

According to an advisory issued at 11:00 AM today (May 2, 2010) by the National Weather Service of Paducah, KY:

In Todd County...evacuations from homes were still ongoing due to flooding in Guthrie. Many roads across the county are closed or water covered ...especially across the southern half of the county. Water still continues to rise in many creeks and streams across the county due to the rain ...and additional roads across the county will likely become flooded and impassable.

In Christian County...water was over the roads on United States Highway 41 ...as well as Kentucky Highways 109 ...115 and 345.

In Muhlenburg County...Kentucky Highway 181 near Mile Post 12 and 13 remains closed. United States Highway 431 ...as well as Kentucky Highways 70 ...1163 ...and 2270 have water over the road.

In Trigg County ...East Noles Road was closed. In addition ...Smith Lane at the bridge ...part of Donaldson Road ...Garfield Road ...Cerulean Road ...Bush Road at Highway 139 North ....Adams Mill Road ...Adams Mill Bridge ...Atwoods Creek ...Harry Road between Mile Post 2 and 3 ...and State Route 1585 between Mile Post 4 and 5 near State Route 272 have water across the road.

Genevieve Netz said...

The National Weather Service is also reporting an F-2 tornado northwest of Crofton at about 2:45-3:00 AM on May 2. From their statement:

[H]ighest concentration of damage was along Poole Mill Road west of Crofton and along the Mannington loop north of Crofton. 3 Mobile homes were severely damaged or destroyed /unoccupied/ on Poole Mill Road and Adams Store Road.
On Mannington Loop... 2 Mobile homes suffered moderate to major damage and a garage was leveled. Several barns suffered minor to moderate damage. Hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped... particularly on Mannington Loop and U.S. Highway 41.

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