WKYT Investigates: Two die in flooded Richmond basement, raising questions about safety

RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - Two people died in the basement of a University Drive home when it flooded on June 27, and questions have since been raised about whether that basement was safe to live in.

Madison County Coroner Jimmy Cornelison confirmed that 57-year-old John Powell and 51-year-old Patricia Beck both died in the home’s basement. The deaths were among six flood-related fatalities recorded across Kentucky.

Survivor describes final moments

Jose Perez Gomez, who lived in the basement and identified Beck as his girlfriend, described the moments before her death as water rapidly rose inside.

“The last words I could hear from her — ‘I can’t swim,’” Gomez said.

Gomez said Powell was trapped inside his room, unable to open the door as water rose. Gomez said he had to swim underwater to reach the stairs leading outside.

“What I did when the water was coming through, I went underneath the water to swim to get up the mess,” Gomez said.

Gomez said the flooding has continued to affect him.

“I can’t sleep or nothing. I can hear the water at nighttime. It’s that bad,” he said.

Basement described as five rented bedrooms

Tenants described the basement as containing five bedrooms rented out as apartments.

WKYT Investigates is told there was no interior stairwell connecting the basement to the home’s main floor — only stairs leading directly outside.

Building code questions

Kentucky’s Public Protection Cabinet said state law requires a building to be maintained to the standards that existed when it was approved. The first uniform statewide building code was not adopted until 1980. Before that, rules were set locally, with some state requirements in place since 1963.

Current state code requires basements containing one or more sleeping rooms to have emergency escape and rescue openings leading into a public way in each room, with some exceptions.

Records from the Madison County Property Valuation Administrator indicate the home was built in or before 1959, meaning it is grandfathered under older standards.

Prior code violations on record

An open records request to the city of Richmond revealed two violations at the property prior to the flooding.

• December 2023: The property owner was cited and fined $300 for a biohazard complaint.
• July 2024: The owner was fined $100 for furniture and garbage piled beside the property.
• August 2024: The owner was fined an additional $300 for the same violation.

The city said it received no complaints about habitability issues inside the apartments before the flooding.

City cites constitutional limits on inspections

The City of Richmond said that even if a code enforcement complaint had been filed, their authority to act would have been limited.

“The city can only exercise the land-use enforcement authority granted to it by the General Assembly and there are strict constitutional protections provided to our citizens against governmental entry upon private property,” Richmond City Attorney Christopher Johnson said. “In this case, the city received no complaints as to habitability issues of these apartments to trigger an investigation prior to the historic flood event.”

He noted that the U.S. Constitution limits a government’s authority to demand access to a private residence without an invitation or a warrant.

“Had a potential code violation report been made, the city would be limited in the actions it could take under both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and its state equivalent found at Section 10 of the Kentucky Constitution. These constitutional provisions place limits on a government’s authority, be it local, state, or federal, to demand access to the interior of someone’s private residence without invitation from a resident or property owner or upon showing of probable cause sufficient to obtain an administrative warrant to enter the property from a judge,” Johnson said. “No complaint or evidence sufficient to provide probable cause was ever made or presented to the city to trigger an investigation prior to these deaths.”

Home condemned after flooding

The home has since been condemned. The code enforcement report cites a biohazard and structural damage caused by the flooding.

The property owner declined to go on camera but told WKYT he has no plans to rent out the basement units again. He said the basement has been cleared out, though he did not provide a reason for that decision.