Team coverage of flash flooding in central Kentucky

(WKYT) - We have team coverage of the impact of the flash flooding across central Kentucky.

Harrison, Nicholas and Scott County school districts canceled class because of the flooding. School leaders made the call early Tuesday morning.

First responders have also been performing water rescues in the region.

“We had three swift water rescues in three different areas. In this particular area, there was a school bus on the other side of high water. The bus driver did the right thing and stopped and called for help,” said Major Brent Wilson of the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office.

Major Wilson says it was teamwork that got multiple people and children to safety in Burbon County Tuesday.

Teamwork in Harrison County, after a sheriff’s deputy became stranded while he was trying to rescue a woman trapped in her car in the Shady Nook Pike area. As the water rose quickly, both the deputy and the woman made it to safety thanks to the County Fire Department.

Those in Harrison County weren’t the only ones dealing with issues from the high water. Scott County EMA Director Mike Hennigan says they dealt with potentially deadly situations early Tuesday morning.

“When we got to one car a little bit further up Long Lick, the water was already dashboard high,” said Hennigan. “If they hadn’t been able to get out of the car, it wouldn’t have been very pretty.”

Hennigan’s team worked on several water rescue missions. In some cases, they had to deploy inflatable boats and physically paddle to cars where people were trapped inside.

“It seemed to be the issue we were having this morning, is people have crossed these places one hundred times before. It had never been an issue, just up to your hub caps type deal. This time, the water wasn’t inches deep, but feet deep,” said Hennigan. “They got in and got stuck and couldn’t do anything but call for help.”

Scott County

Scott County had plenty of high water issues Tuesday morning.

The roads around Long Lick Pike, Josephine Road and Coppage Road, north of Stamping Ground have seen the worst of the high water.

Scott County Sheriff deputies say, at this point, most northern roads in the county have water over the roadways. Scott County EMA Director Mike Hennigan told us that he was stuck on Josephine Rd. between two areas of high water.

We know officials had to respond to four cars that were caught in the high water.

No injuries were reported, but officials are warning everyone to steer clear of this area until the water goes down.

Officials are reminding drivers not to drive through water on roadways. It can be hard to tell how deep that water is and it doesn’t take much water to stall out a car or push it off a roadway.

Bourbon County

The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office tells us they have been involved in three water rescues Tuesday morning, one of which involved a Bourbon County school bus.

We’re told there were eight children and the driver on the bus.

The sheriff’s office says the bus was on Silas Road, northwest of Paris, when the driver saw high water over the road in front of the bus. The driver stopped the bus and called for help.

The bus never went into high water, but deputies had to go through the high water to get the children and driver out of the area.

The other two water rescues were on both Russell Cave Road and Elizabeth Station Road.

No injuries were reported with any of the rescues.

Harrison County

A deputy’s cruiser was lost in high water in Harrison County Tuesday morning.

The sheriff’s office says the deputy responded around 5 a.m. to a call about someone being trapped in high water in the Shady Nook Pike area, that’s east of Cynthiana.

We’re told the deputy’s cruiser stalled in high water in a low spot on the road. The water then started to rise quickly. The deputy was able to get out of the cruiser and make it to safety.

The sheriff says the deputy is okay but thinks the cruiser will be a total loss.

Harrison County firefighters were able to help the woman trapped in the high water the deputy was trying to respond to.

Nicholas County

In Nicholas County, school leaders canceled classes because of the weather.

Some county roads were washed out due to flash flooding.

The Nicholas County judge/executive says, so far, they haven’t had any water rescues, but they are continuing to monitor the situation.

Anderson County

Anderson County Emergency Manager Bart Powell says the “typical low water crossings in the county” currently have water over them, such as Rice Road and Drydock Road.

Powell also said Hammons Creek Road, off Highway 44, has high water over it as well. He’s been checking out reports of high water over roads in the county all morning.

There was a water rescue Tuesday morning on Avenstoke Road, close to Pigeon Fork Road near the Franklin County line.

He says an adult and two children in a van had to be rescued when the van got stuck in high water. Franklin County firefighters got to the scene first and made the rescue before Anderson County got there.

No one was hurt.

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