Kentucky remains in the throes of deadly flooding from a severe storm system that has dumped torrential rain over the state since Wednesday.
The continued significant levels of rainfall have resulted in historic flooding in some areas.
Cities in the central swath of the commonwealth, including Lexington and Bowling Green, have higher chances of seeing impacts, meteorologists said.
When will flooding in Kentucky stop?
Heavy rainfall is expected until the weather system starts to move east Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Louisville.
Where are flood warnings in Kentucky?
The National Weather Service in Louisville issued the following warnings:
- A flash flood warning for Bullitt, Nelson and Spencer counties in central Kentucky due to expected thunderstorms producing heavy rain. Areas expected to experience flash flooding included Bardstown, Shepherdsville, Pioneer Village, Taylorsville, Mount Washington, Hillview, Lebanon Junction, Hebron Estates, Bloomfield and Fox Chase.
- A flash flood warning for Breckenridge and Meade counties into Sunday morning, affecting Brandenburg, Hardinsburg, Webster, Irvington, Cloverport, Muldraugh, Ekron, Basin Spring, Clifton Mills and Garfield.
- A flood warning for Anderson, Franklin and Woodford counties through Tuesday afternoon, impacted by the Kentucky River at Frankfort Lock where more flooding was expected due to additional rainfall expected. Kentucky River at Lockport Lock could affect Carroll, Owen and Henry counties; and Elkhorn Creek Near Peaks Mill could impact Franklin County. The flood stage was 41.4 feet Saturday evening and the river is expected to rise to a crest of 47 feet Monday morning, comparable to a crest of 47.5 feet on January 25, 1937, one of the area’s most significant floods.
Dustin Friend looks out at the Red River rushing over Main Street in Clay City, Kentucky Saturday morning, April 5, 2025 after heavy rains have flooded the area. The small town’s main road has been cut-off due to the Red River’s flooding. “I’ve never seen it like this since I’ve lived here,” he said.
What roads are closed in Kentucky?
Many state and county roads in west Kentucky were closed Saturday as floodwaters swept over pavement. Clinton, the seat of Hickman County, was inaccessible from several directions due to road closures and some of the remaining routes into town were barely above water as of midday Saturday.
Kentucky weather updates: Thunder Over Louisville 2025 canceled due to weather
Kentucky flood fatalities
At least two people have died in flooding-related incidents in Kentucky.
A 9-year-old Frankfort boy died Friday after being swept away by floodwaters while walking to a school bus stop, Frankfort police said. A 74-year-old man was found dead inside a submerged vehicle in the 2800 block of Nelsonville Road in Boston Saturday, according to the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials urge drivers to stay off roads if possible
The National Weather Service is urging motorists to stay off flooded roads.
Most flood fatalities occur in vehicles, according to the agency. More than half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into hazardous floodwaters, and the second-highest percentage of flood-related deaths is due to walking into or near floodwaters, the service said.
Six inches of fast-moving water can knock over an adult. Twelve inches of rushing water can sweep most cars off a road and 2 feet of rushing water can carry away SUVs and trucks.
Historic flooding possible in several KY areas
Kentucky’s capital city could soon see the Kentucky River crest to the highest level in more than three decades.
Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson said the river is predicted to crest at more than 44 feet and could surpass the levels it reached in 1989.
Since Friday, the river has risen more than 10 feet and is expected to rise an additional 5 feet by Monday, Wilkerson said in a Facebook post.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the incident could become one of the city’s top 10 worst flooding events when the Ohio River crests in the city Wednesday.
Most significant Kentucky floods
According to weather.gov, the five most significant Kentucky floods are:
The Great Flood of 1937
The Ohio River Great Flood of January 1937 surpassed all prior floods during the previous 175 years of modern occupancy of the Ohio River Valley.
About 70% of Louisville was submerged, forcing 175,000 residents to flee. About 90% of Jeffersonville, Indiana, was flooded with 13,000 residents forced to flee their homes.
Louisville received 15 inches of rain over 12 days, from January 13-24. More than 19 inches of rain fell over the month.
At Louisville, the crest of the 1937 flood is still a full 10 feet higher than the second-highest crest set in 1945. At McAlpine Lock, the 1937 flood crested at 85.4 feet. The flood stage is 55 feet.
Damage was estimated at about $250 million — more than $3.3 billion in 2025 dollars.
The Ohio River Flood of March 1945
The flood that beset the Ohio River Valley in 1945 is the second-biggest flood at Louisville, peaking at 74.4 feet.
Late on March 5, the river was flowing over a sandbag dike and caused about 50,000 citizens in the Louisville area to evacuate.
The bulk of the heavy rain that caused the flood fell during a three-week period leading up to the flood. The rain came in four main waves on February 20–21, February 25–26, March 1-2, and March 5-6.
Damage was about estimated at around $2.6 million.
The Flood of March 1997
Large amounts of rain fell on central Kentucky and southern Indiana from the end of February to the beginning of March 1997.
Thunderstorms and large areas of heavy rain repeatedly moved over the same areas, causing record flooding along smaller streams and some of the worst flooding along the Ohio River since at least 1964, and in some places since the Great Flood of 1937. A few smaller streams set their all-time records.
Water reached the rooftops in Boston in Nelson County. Barge traffic was halted on the Ohio River when the locks flooded.
The Louisville area sustained about $200 million in damage from the flooding, affecting about 50,000 homes. The region saw a total of about $400 million in damages.
Interstates 64 and 65 were closed, and 92 counties in Kentucky and 14 in Indiana were declared disaster areas.
Nineteen deaths occurred in Kentucky, including nine due to attempts to cross flooded roadways.
Great Winter Flood of December 1978
The flood that struck Frankfort saw the Kentucky River peak on December 10 at a record 48.47 feet and led to the state capital being almost completely cut off from the rest of the commonwealth.
About 1,000 people fled their homes.
Torrential Rainfall May 1-2 2010
Strengthening low pressure moving slowly from Texas to Michigan brought Gulf moisture northward, resulting in historic rainfall across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Parts of southern Kentucky saw 8-10 inches of rain.
Bowling Green, Marrowbone, Bradfordsville, Richmond and Albany all set new records for two-day rainfall amounts and almost all streams and rivers in southern Indiana and central Kentucky experienced some sort of flooding.
Stoner Creek at Paris and the Kentucky River at High Bridge attained their third-highest crests on record. The Green River at Rochester stayed above flood stage for two weeks following the rain.
Damage totaled more than $30 million and there were five fatalities in central Kentucky.
Contributing: Keisha Rowe, Olivia Evans, Connor Giffin, Stephanie Kuzydym and Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at [email protected] or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com:@cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky floods 2025: See flood warnings, river crest timing, more
