.png)
The Kentucky flood of March 1997 was one of the deadliest weather events in the state’s history.
Large amounts of rain fell on central Kentucky and southern Indiana from late February through early March that year.
The thunderstorms and large areas of heavy rain repeatedly moved over the same areas, making for impressive amounts of rainfall and some of the worst flooding along the Ohio River since 1964, according to the National Weather Service. In some places, the flooding was the most since the Great Flood of 1937.
Some smaller streams set records.
Severe weather in Kentucky 1997 flood
Residents also had to contend with severe weather, with tornadoes reported from Arkansas to southern Kentucky, including an F2 twister in southern Monroe County.
The Louisville National Weather Service office issued five tornado warnings, 31 severe thunderstorm warnings, and 235 flash flood warnings between 10:58 p.m. eastern February 28 and 2 a.m. March 2.
Winds blew trees and power lines down across southern Kentucky, and hail was reported in Green and Metcalfe counties. Many two-story houses along Elkhorn Creek had water up to the second floor and at least 75 rescues were made.
Images from the Ohio River flood of 1997 in Western Kentucky and Southern Indiana . The rainfall began on Feb. 28,1997, before intensifying in early March. Storms would continue to pound the region until eventually the Ohio River swelled to 47.52 feet locally on March 10.
Kentucky Flood of 1997 fatalities
It was central Kentucky's deadliest weather event since the Super Tornado Outbreak of April 3, 1974.
A 16-month-old boy drowned as the car he was in filled with water as it stalled under a viaduct in Clark County, Indiana.
A 13-year-old boy was killed as he drowned while trying to clean out a culvert in Shelby County.
A 16-year-old boy died near Jeffersontown in Jefferson County, Kentucky, as his van was swept off the road by swollen Chenoweth Creek.
A 33-year-old woman drowned as her minivan was swept into the Barren River in Warren County.
A 39-year-old man was found floating down the Ohio River near West Point in Hardin County.
A 50-year-old man was killed as he attempted to cross a flooded road after his car was swept into Elkhorn Creek in Franklin County and he attempted to swim to safety.
A 66-year-old man was found dead in his pickup truck near Hingston Creek in Millersburg in Bourbon County.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kentucky flood of March 1997. Deaths and dozens of rescues in the event
English (US) ·