• Mossberg Owners is in the process of upgrading the software. Please bear with us while we transition to the new look and new upgraded software.

State of Emergency--Flooding

John A.

John A.

Unconstitutional laws are not laws.
Staff member
Administrator
Global Moderator
Well, looks like we're going to have a pretty bad one.

The ground is already saturated from earlier snows and now the rain.

It's rained steadily for the last 20 hours, and is supposed to rain for at least 23 more.

Weather forecast is expecting another 5 inches through 8PM tomorrow night.

I went out a little earlier, and several of the back roads and low lying roads were already covered.

Corps of Engineers are releasing water at the lake. That river/tributary is way up from even normal flood levels.

County executives have emergency personnel on standby to close the floodgates in town. If that happens, is going to divert likely millions of gallons over onto the river that goes down along the road to our house. It already carries water from Letcher County, up toward Virginia and the other direction up toward the lake near Tennessee border.

So, at best, we'll be stuck for a while. Hopefully still above water levels, but if the shut the floodgate across the river from my front porch of my house, I don't know what that will do. That may start to get hairy. The view from my front porch is almost level and straight line with the bottom of the flood wall.

So far, 2 of the 4 main routes into or out of the county are closed to flooding.

And in Lynch, a mine water reservoir has blown out and took out the main road in that community.

That too also comes by our property eventually and is only going to make matters worse.

Mudslide reported up hwy 38 too.
 
Oh man. I hope the best for ya`ll down there. Stay safe....
 
Thank you very much guys. I do appreciate it.

The floodwall in town is now closed. And they just closed the one across from my house too. But when that happens, and while that protects "the town", that only causes more problems for everyone else surrounding town. If the water doesn't run where it normally does, where does that leave for it to go?

Red Cross is setting up at one of the churches in town.

I just got off the phone with my little sister. The road to my Moms and sister is totally blocked on both ends now. I went up there about 8PM and it was almost up to the road, but wasn't blocked at that time. So, they'll be stuck until the water recedes, and that may be a couple days at best.

They are well above the flood plain and they are well stocked in everything they need. I can't remember anytime in the last 45 years that it ever did flood at the old homeplace so that's good. Plus, my sister is higher elevation and Mom could go up there if she had to, so that helps take some worry off of me. Heck, I would take my ATV up the railroad tracks if I had to get to her. Or whatever I had to do. ;)

I'm not terribly concerned for them right now though. Even back in 1977 when the biggest flood in modern history happened, was well below where Mom's house was, so I'm not too worried for either of them just yet though there are a lot of friends and neighbors that are being affected no doubt.
 
I'm embarrassed to say so, but I don't know exactly where you are located. Take care. Tom Worthington
 
Sorry for the late start this morning, but it was a kinda long night.

I've also heard reports of at least one fatality.

The rain has slacked off for the last couple of hours. Still raining some, but not as hard. Right now is barely sprinkling. 5 minutes from now, may be coming down like pouring out of a boot again.

Lots of facebook posts where folks were told to evacuate in several areas.

At least one store in a nearby community was flooded.

There is a major mudslide in the new section of 119 near Eolia in Letcher county. From the videos, looks like there is a lot more that's going to slide off before it is through. So far, only the lower portion has slid, leaving a large ledge of dirt over it that has nowhere to go BUT down. So, that successfully blocks off 3 out of the 4 main roads into or out of the county until some of the water goes down.

Here are a couple of pictures that my sister sent me early this morning showing the old road at my old homeplace.

2018 flood 3.jpg

In the picture below, it may not look like it here, but there is a road under there where it looks like the rapids are rolling near the tree line.

The river is about 6 times wider than usual here. It usually only maybe 25 feet wide and on the far side of that row of trees. The only reason why it's not spreading out even farther is there is a raised railroad track where Juanita was standing taking the photo. And it goes on like this for at least a mile, which is what's blocking both access roads to my Moms neighborhood.

2018 flood 2.jpg


I'm sure there will be a lot more pictures coming later.
 
That is one wicked picture with the flood and dark sky. Stay safe and vigilant my friend.
 
Power is still on for the most part. There are 2 small'ish outages in 2 different areas due to trees uprooting with mudslides taking out some transmission lines, and another where a pole/transformer had something knock it down. But largely the power is still on.

We have a couple alternatives for light and power if we need to. It's not unusual to lose power here anyway with all the trees near the power lines.

Food is fine. We could probably hold out until mid summer on just the canned food in the pantry and basement alone LOL

For right now, the river that I have most of the photos of is where the county gets its' city water from. There is no shortage of water, but with as much mud and sediment and God knows what else has been stirred up by the flood, we won't be drinking it for at least a couple of weeks.

Yes, they do good at filtering and treating the water, it's just no telling what is floating or running down the river. Especially with the mine dam that broke through.

We have some bottled water. Worse comes to worse, I have a gravity filter setup I made if I needed it. But as long as we have power, I can get water from my Uncle. He has a 180' well on his property. I can get to his place right now.

My Mom still has an underground well that she can switch over from the city water too.

Our family, and even extended family are all pretty much old school. "prepping" isn't a thing in this region. It's been a way of life for generations.

Thank you for checking though. I do appreciate you.
 
Just saw a post from the local news. Apparently, they're saying about 2 miles of the old road is impassable due to flooding.

That would cover approximately 1500 residences that would be affected. While there will be some that are going to probably be a total loss, most are not going to be flooded, but will be essentially stranded until the water recedes. Especially the bed-ridden and handicapped. Only way in or out right now is on foot.

That could be a serious problem for medical emergencies and such that would require EMS transport and the likes.

2018 flood wymt 413 impassable.jpg
 
Here's an aerial view at the photo above in the WYMT facebook post.

The photo in the post above of the tan house was taken from the guardrail on the new road looking back across the river toward it behind where that white SUV is.

The tan house in the post above is at the top center of the photo below. The large building with the red roof is the church where my first cousin preaches. It did have about 6 inches of water in the basement and kitchen area.

And yes, there is a vehicle stranded in the middle of the road. :punish:

The river is typically only at the far right of the photo between the tree lines.

2018 flood 5 aerial view sergent drive and church.png
 
Good Lord it looks like life on the Ohio River buddy!

Covington used to flood out like that once in a while, and my mom told me about going to school in a rowboat when she was a little kid. I have a little boat that I don't get to use enough, but I will never sell it.

The thing is that I am over 100 feet above the river's typical water line. I'm about the same distance above the low point of the valley here. If a flood ever hits me it's not going to be any minor close-the-road thing.

It will mean that the San Joaquin Valley has turned into the San Joaquin Sea.

When that happens you might actually feel the earthquake all the way in Tennessee.
 
No post since yesterday afternoon.

I'm afraid they lost power last night.
 
Oh yeah.

Rain stopped for a while yesterday giving a little break. Then poured more last night.

We're supposed to get more rain just about every day this week, but I think it'll give it a chance for the water levels to go down after today. Or at least I'm hoping.
 
One report: "13 counties in East Tennessee, Southern Kentucky and Virginia are under a Flood Warning as heavy rain continues to pour in the area."

Another report said that a state of emergency had been declared in that region through several counties.

So far we have only had about 1/6 of our normal rainfall this year. It all fell on the East Coast and Appalachia.
 
Lots of rain and flooding in the county where my oldest son lives too, so it's not just here. It is regional.

I've spoke with him on the phone a couple of times. They stocked up on groceries Friday, so while they're stuck at the house, they're not hungry. They're OK too. Other than missing work.

I think my daughter-in-laws employer is allowing all their affected employees to use sick time, so it's not a total loss. That's good of them.

It's not like anyone can do anything about it.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top