Flooding leaves parts of Hopkins County completely under water

HOPKINS COUNTY, Ky. (WEHT) — Dawson Springs is just one place experiencing severe flooding, closing roads and causing some people to reach higher ground.

County officials fear it will not get any better anytime soon, especially with more snow in the forecast.

It’s a similar scene across Western Kentucky with roads under water, people rescued from flooded homes and parks turned into lakes.

Hopkins County Judge Executive Jack Whitfield says 4 to 8 inches of rain fell across the state over the weekend. In Dawson Springs, Riverside Park is completely under water.

“Our sheriff’s office and our police department, emergency management and fire department have all been out helping people,” says Whitfield. “Our road guys have been out there taking care of the roads and in the ditches, trying to get the water recede… always there”

While has begun to retreat from the roadways, Whitfield says the county is not out of the woods yet. With the bitter cold and snow in the forecast, he says it could be weeks before the county can get a good look at the damage.

“Right now we can’t even tell the damage to our infrastructure because a lot of the roads and culvers are still underwater,” says Whitfield. “The water that does not recede is going to freeze and we are going to have ice on the roads. So we are going to be out putting salt and brine down and plowing, but it is going to be a dangerous situation for a while.”

When it time start cleaning up, President Donald Trump authorized FEMA to provide federal disaster assistance to all 120 Kentucky counties. In the meantime, Whitfield urges the public to be cautious, especially on the roadways.