Flash flood temporarily shuts down road in Russell, Kentucky

RUSSELL, Ky. (WOWK) — As the rain came down Thursday morning, rivers and creeks went up. This caused traffic delays and damage to buildings.

High water covered part of Diederich Boulevard in Russell, Kentucky, shutting the road down for a few hours.

Joey Lewis described the event as “shocking.”

“We’ve had some floods here before. That’s kind of a flood-prone little section there, but that is definitely the highest, the worst that I’ve seen it,” Lewis said.

Lewis is a member of the Bridges Christian Church just down the road. Part of the property that was flooded was their soccer field and concession building.

The high water entered the building and left behind mud and other debris.

“It’s a mess. It’s muddy, muddy and slick. Some things knocked over and just kind of moved around by the water,” Lewis says.

The church had soccer matches scheduled for Saturday, but they had to be postponed.

“I just don’t think that the building’s going to be ready, and got to make sure all of our equipment is unharmed and ready to go for Saturday. So we’ve canceled our Saturday game day,” Lewis says.

Clean-up efforts are now underway, but Lewis says they’re happy that the damage seems to be minimal.

“It doesn’t look as bad as it could have been. Not as bad as maybe you thought it was when you’re standing from the other side of the water looking at it. Now that the water’s gone down, just kind of assessing the damage, and it’s not as bad as it could have been,” Lewis says.