Kentucky has gotten walloped by the weather lately. This past Saturday we got hit by a storm system that dumped 6-7 inches of rain on much of the state, causing widespread flash flooding and more than a dozen deaths.
The rain had barely stopped when it started to snow. Dropped a few inches of the frozen stuff on us Sunday morning and the temperature plummeted along with the falling snow. We've had a few more waves of snow since, but it's been pretty minor in comparison to the flooding.
We drove down to western Kentucky through all the rain Saturday and the flooding down there was pretty bad but from what I'm seeing out of the eastern part of the state it was even worse there. My hometown of Beattyville was underwater for the second time since 2021 and many of the same areas that flooded there in 2022 have flooded again. Eastern Kentucky can't win for losing it seems.
Thankfully, the rivers have crested down there and the floodwaters are slowly starting to recede. Here in Louisville that's not the case yet, with the Ohio River not predicted to crest until Friday, so yesterday I headed down to Waterfront Park to see what the situation was here.
Trashy. There's nothing like a river getting up to show off just how much trash we humans carelessly discard. What makes it even more fun is knowing that this is the same river we get our drinking water from. Now that's a comforting thought. Don't worry though, sooner or later it'll all make its way to the Great Garbage Patch in the Sky Atlantic.
Was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Ohio River wasn't up as much as I was afraid it would be. The line of concrete columns (pilings?) mark the edge of the wharf, in less moist times the river starts just to the right of them. The last time the river got up good was in February 2018, but we've still got a ways to go before we match that flood. Then the water was up to the underside of Joe's Crab Shack, the green roofed restaurant on pilings on the left.
Still, in places like here between 3rd and 7th Streets, River Road had been reduced to just River.
Was just in this area taking photos three weeks ago, but this time around it puts you in much more of a reflective mood. Fortunately, this part of town has been built up with these sorts occurrences in mind, so for all the flooding the actual damage is limited. Give it a couple months and this area will be packed with hundreds of thousands of folks for the Thunder Over Louisville airshow and fireworks extravaganza.
It was a bit surreal to have the snow contrasting with the flooding. The concrete enclosures for the dumpsters make a lot more sense now though.
It's about time I ship on out of here, so I'll leave you with this shot of the oldest river steamboat in operation, the Belle of Louisville. Stay dry y'all.