PIKE COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) – On New Years Day, severe flooding rocked many parts of the Big Sandy region including communities in Pike County. These floods resulted in rescue squads, such as the Pikeville Fire Department’s swift water rescue team, being deployed to help the cause.
“We ended up doing a couple of shallow water crossings,” said Pikeville FD Swift Water Rescue Team member Lt. Matthew Stevens. “We ended up deploying the Zodiac and getting six out to safety to the road.”
Following the floods, the region also received a snowstorm, which dropped approximately five to eight inches across much of the area and caused its own dangers. Saturday and Sunday’s warmer temperatures coupled with Sunday’s chance of rain could cause more dangerous and sloppy conditions to continue.
“Well, with the rain we have coming,” said Pike County Emergency Management Director Doug Tackett, “we were kind of concerned about the possibility of flooding or flash flooding with the snowmelt and the rain.”
Along with a risk of minor flooding in lowland areas, runoff from the melting snow could lead to dangerous roads as well as delayed storm cleanup from past flooding.
“It could cause water to run across the road and refreeze, and even the cleanup effort from the flood is going to be delayed for the snow and ice,” said Lt. Stevens. “Then more rains coming on top of that just makes it that much worse with the mud and debris that’s already on the road.”
Officials are warning folks to remain vigilant of the weather and of creeks or streams if you live in a flood zone.
“The big thing is to keep an eye on the weather, be weather aware,” said Tackett. “Keep an eye on your streams if you’re concerned about that.”
Tackett said folks in Pike County will be receiving alerts if a chance of flooding is possible in your area. Tackett also said, although the National Weather Service is only forecasting a half-inch of precipitation on Sunday, crews will continue to monitor local rain gauges.
You can also stay weather aware by downloading the WYMT Weather app on mobile devices via the Google Play Store or Apple AppStore.
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