© 2025 WUKY
background_fid.jpg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A week on, flood waters and the death toll continue to rise in parts of Kentucky

Wanona Harp points out a neighbor's home as she paddles through Lockport, Ky., flooded by the Kentucky River, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Carolyn Kaster/AP
/
AP
Wanona Harp points out a neighbor's home as she paddles through Lockport, Ky., flooded by the Kentucky River, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The widespread storms and floods that began more than a week ago in Kentucky continue to cause damage and lead to warnings, especially for those in western Kentucky.

Gov. Andy Beshear said the Ohio River crested in Louisville Wednesday, but "it's only gonna crest in Owensboro on Saturday or Sunday, in Henderson on Sunday, and then in Paducah, sometime next week, maybe even a full week from now."

The state's death toll from the storms continues to rise.

Beshear said a 66-year-old Campbell County man died due to the floods — bringing the total number of deaths in Kentucky to six.

"This loss joins five others, a boy here in Franklin County, a 74-year-old woman in Nelson County, a 65-year-old man in Trigg County, a 27-year-old man in McCracken County, and a 50-year-old man in Bullock County," Beshear reported Thursday during his Team Kentucky briefing.

"Each of these deaths is attributable to floodwater, and so this is another reminder that it is still dangerous out there," the governor said. "Do not drive through water. Do not drive around barricades. Do not think that you can drive around where the mudslides or the landslides are. Please be careful."

Right now, much of the emergency attention has moved to the region of the state pelted with the most rain.

"We've shifted a lot of our of our swift water boat teams from Central Kentucky now over to Western Kentucky knowing that the the worst of the flooding is still gonna come to Henderson, Owensboro, and then maybe Paducah," he said.

Power outages are down to just over 2,500 electric meters in the state. Three water systems are offline and 18 have limited operations.

Some additional rain is forecast in the coming days, but Beshear said it's not expected to produce much more in the way of flooding — though it may slow the rate at which some waters recede.