1997 — March 1-3, Flash Floods and Flooding, esp. Ohio River Valley, esp. KY (21) –33-36

lornajarrettblanchard March 1, 1997

— 36 Blanchard tally based on State breakouts below.[1]

— 33 NWS, NOAA. Service Assessment. Ohio River Valley Flood of March 1997, Aug 1998, ix.

Indiana ( 1)

— 1 Clark County, March 1-2. Male, 16; drowned when car stalled under a viaduct. NCDC SED.

Kentucky (21)

–21 NWS, NOAA. Service Assessment. Ohio River Valley Flood of March 1997, Aug 1998, ix.[2]

–16 State. Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below.

–16 Flash Flooding and Flooding. NCDC. Storm Events Database, Flood, Flash Flood, KY.

— 7 State, Flash Flooding. NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, KY.

— 9 State, Flood. NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, KY. March 1997.

–14 State. AP. “Ohio River continues to loom as huge flood…[KY].” Times-Tribune, 3-5-1997.

— 1 Bourbon County, US 68 ~Millersburg. Drowning; Hanly Tucker, 66, pickup half-submerged.[3]

— 1 Franklin County, Elton Creek, March 2. Male, 50, tried to drive car across flooded road.[4]

— 1 Gallatin County, March 1. Female, 53; drowned after car stalled in high water. NCDC SED.

— 1 Hardin County, West Point (body found floating down river). Male, 39. NCDC SED. Flood

— 1 Jefferson Co., Jeffersontown, Chenoweth Creek. Male, 16, when his van was swept away.[5]

— 1 Mason County, North Fork, Licking River, March 1-2. Male, 24; water engulfed truck.[6]

— 1 Muhlenberg Co., Central City, March 1. Male, 41, on inner-tube pulled under concrete bridge.[7]

— 2 Owen Co., KY Riv., Hwy 355 ~Perry Park, March 1-2. Male/female, both 65, car swept away.[8]

— 5 Pendleton Co., Falmouth, by March 5. NCDC. Storm Events Database. Flood, March 1-6.[9]

–Male, 53, in mobile home

–Females, 14 and 54, in mobile homes

–Female 75, in permanent home

–Male, 27, outdoors

— 1 Shelby County, March 1-2. Male, 13, drowned trying to clean out culvert. NCDC SED.

— 1 Warren Co., March 1-2. Female, 33, drowned when her minivan pulled into Barren River.[10]

Mississippi ( 1)

— 1 AP. “Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee Residents Battle Floods. Pharos-Tribune, 3-3-1997, A3.

Missouri ( 1)

— 1 New Madrid Co., I-55 ~Sikeston, Mar 1. Male, 65, lost control of car, went into ditch, swept away.[11]

Ohio ( 5) All due to attempting to drive through flooded roads. (USGS)

— 5 NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood and Flood searches, OH. March 1-2.

— 5 NWS, NOAA. Service Assessment. Ohio River Valley Flood of March 1997, Aug 1998, ix.

— 5 USGS (K.S. Jackson and S.A. Vivian). Flood of March 1997 in Southern Ohio. 1997. Abs.

Breakout of Flood-related Deaths by locality (where noted):

— 1 Adams Co., Blue Creek, March 1-2. Male, 16, swept away while riding all-terrain vehicle.[12]

— 1 Adams County near Lawshe, March 1-2. Female, 34; car swept off bridge, State Route 32.[13]

— 1 Brown County, State Route 763, March 1-2. Male, 24; car surrounded by water, swept off.[14]

— 1 Gallia County. USGS, Flood of March 1997 in So. Ohio, citing Ohio State highway Patrol.[15]

— 1 Pike County, March 2. Male, 87, drowned when Sunfish Creek flooded his home.[16]

Tennessee ( 4)

— 4 NWS, NOAA. Service Assessment. Ohio River Valley Flood of March 1997, Aug 1998, ix.

— 2 State. Drownings. AP, March 3.[17]

— 2 Madison Co. “…two persons were killed when their car was swept off a flooded road.”[18]

— 1 Obion County. Drowning; man “fell out of boat helping people out of their homes.” NCDC.

— 1 Shelby County. Drowning; male, 18; when his car went over a flooded bridge. NCDC. SED.

Texas (2)

–2 AP. “Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee Residents Battle Floods. Pharos-Tribune, 3-3-1997, 3.[19]

West Virginia (3)

— 3 Corbin Times Tribune, KY. “Details: Tenn. Governor asks Clinton to…” 3-7-1997, p. 2.

— 3 NWS, NOAA. Service Assessment. Ohio River Valley Flood of March 1997, Aug 1998, ix.

— 1 Calhoun County, March 2-3. Male, 73, outside. NCDC Storm Events Database, Flood, WV.

— 2 Huntington, Mar 5. Carla Sue Ireson, 44; Earl William Adkins, 38, went around flood roadblock.[20]

Narrative Information

NWS Service Assessment Overview: “The Ohio Valley is frequented by floods on an annual basis. However, flooding of the magnitude comparable to the floods of March 1997 is a rare occurrence. Between March 1 and 3, as much as 6 to 12 inches of rain fell in parts of northern Kentucky and southern Ohio…This produced a variety of flooding ranging from flash flooding in hilly terrain and poorly drained areas, to small stream flooding in rural and urban areas, followed by very serious flooding that developed along the Ohio River as well as many of its tributaries.

“Record flooding resulted along many rivers in northern Kentucky including the Rolling Fork River at Boston, South Fork of the Licking River at Cynthiana, and the Licking River at Blue Licks Spring and Falmouth. Record, or near record, flooding also occurred in Ohio with the most serious flooding reported along Brush Creek and the Scioto and Great Miami Rivers. Levels on the main stem of the Ohio were the highest in over 30 years.

“Impact: Damages and fatalities.

“Disastrous flooding inundated dozens of river towns and cities forcing evacuations of thousands of people. Most of the town of Falmouth in Pendleton County, Kentucky, with over 2,400 residents, was evacuated. Flooding also inundated several other towns across the region including Boston, Kentucky, where the water level reached the rooftops of many homes and smaller businesses….Major flooding impacted a total of six states across the region. The most severe flooding occurred in Ohio and Kentucky with dozens of counties in each state declared natural disaster areas. Close to 14,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Over 20,000 home and business owners applied for disaster relief. Damage estimates totaled more than $500 million.

“Although effective lead time was provided by the NWS in the form of river flood and flash flood warnings, a total of 33 people lost their lives due to flooding, including 21 in Kentucky, 5 in Ohio, 4 in Tennessee, and 3 in West Virginia. Hundreds of injuries were also reported. Many of these losses may have been preventable. A dozen deaths were caused by drowning associated with vehicles being swept away by flood currents. One university professor drowned while kayaking on a flooded river, two drowned in a canoeing accident during the height of the floods, and another reportedly drowned while floating in a flooded stream in an inner tube. Five other victims of the floods were safely evacuated but became worried about their property and returned home only to be trapped by rising water and drowned….” (National Weather Service, NOAA. Service Assessment. Ohio River Valley Flood of March 1997. Aug 1998, pp. ix-x.)

NCDC, Jefferson County, KY: “Numerous strong thunderstorms training along a stalled out warm front triggered a record 24 hour rainfall for the county. The combination of flooding and/or flash flooding from the record rainfall resulted in an estimated 50,000 homes effected by flooding. Many of these homes had basements entirely flooded with water into the main floor. Damage was estimated at 65 million dollars not including the river flooding on the Ohio River. The Ford factory on Fern Valley Road had damage to up to 1,500 Explorers. 24 hour rainfall totals beginning around 930 pm EST February 28 to 930 pm March 1 ranged from around 6 inches along the Ohio River to 11.5 inches across the communities of Okolona and Fairdale in the southern part of the county. The National Weather Service in Highview reported 9.6 inches during this period and 12.06 inches from the onset through 7 am EST March 2. The previous record 24 hour total was 6.97 inches. An estimated 2,500 homes in numerous subdivisions in Okolona and Fairdale and across other parts of the county had to be evacuated with hundreds relocated in temporary shelters. Okolona and Fairdale lie in the Pond Creek floodplain which was formerly swamp land. National Guard had to get many of these people out by boat or dump trucks. Thousands of cars were evacuated or stalled out due to the high waters. Numerous rescues were made with people trapped in cars and in houses. Bloated storm sewers popped off manhole covers that left cars quickly inundated in advancing high water. Several roads were closed around the Jefferson county Forest due to mudslides. A 16 year old boy was killed near Jeffersontown as his van was swept off the road by the swollen Chenoweth Creek. Numerous roads including parts of Interstate 65 and 64 were closed through the morning of March 2. Because of all the damage, the County-Judge Executive declared the county a state of emergency and the county was declared a federal disaster area eligible for federal aid.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Jefferson, March 1-3, 1997.)

NCDC, Mason County, KY: “Estimated rainfall from 5 to over 12 inches across the county in less than 36 hours caused area creeks and streams to rise out of their banks. Numerous roads were covered by water causing several vehicles to stall in the water. Some people had to be rescued from their vehicles. Three bridges were washed out and water flooded into some homes. An area man drowned when water engulfed his truck along the North Fork of the Licking River.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Mason, March 1-2, 1997.)

NCDC, Adams County, OH: “Estimated rainfall of 6 to 12 inches across the county in less than 36 hours caused area creeks and streams to rise out of their banks. Numerous roads were closed due to high water. Several rescue operations occurred. Five hundred homes were damaged beyond repair with 700 more having reparable damage. Two people were killed during this event. A boy was swept away while riding an all-terrain vehicle and a women was killed when her car was swept off a bridge along State Route 32 near Lawshe. Her husband survived by clinging to a tree.” (NCDC, Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, OH, Adams, March 1-2, 1997.)

NCDC, Pike County, OH: “Persistent heavy rainfall caused area creeks and streams to rise out of their banks. Numerous roads were closed due to high water. Breaks occurred in Crooked Creek’s earthen levee destroying houses, cars, and several restaurants and businesses in Waverly. A total of 224 homes were flooded and 70 evacuations occurred. An elderly man drowned as Sunfish creek flooded his home. He had been advised to evacuate but decided to stay.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Ohio, Pike, March 2, 1997.)

USGS on Southern OH: “….Storms that produced heavy rains during March 1–2, 1997, resulted in severe flooding in southern Ohio. Widespread damages to private and public property occurred throughout the area. The following 18 counties in southern Ohio were declared Federal and State disaster areas: Adams, Athens, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, and Washington. Preliminary estimates of the cost of the flood damage are set at nearly $180 million. Nearly 20,000 persons were evacuated and about 6,500 residences and 833 businesses were affected. Five deaths were attributed to the flooding, all of the fatalities the result of attempts to drive through flooded roads….

“….The human impact of the March 1997 flooding in southern Ohio was appreciable. Nearly 20,000 people were evacuated during the flooding, and 5 people lost their lives. The fatalities were in Adams, Brown, Pike, and Gallia Counties. The Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) reported that 93 roads were closed as a result of the flooding on March 2, 1997. OEMA estimated that on March 5, 1997, 1,200 residents of southern Ohio were without natural gas, 2,032 were without electricity, and 1,785 were without telephone service. OEMA also reported that 37 boil-water advisories were in effect for various southern Ohio communities, owing to potential contamination of water supplies by floodwaters on March 6, 1997.” (USGS. Flood of March 1997 in Southern Ohio. Columbus, OH, 1997.)

Sources

Associated Press (Amy Beth Graves). “Deadly flooding causes havoc in several states.” Orange County Register, Ca, 3-3-1997, p. 5. Accessed 1-28, 2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=195175678&sterm

Associated Press, Louisville, Ky. “Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee Residents Battle Floods. Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN, 3-3-1997, A3. Accessed 1-31-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=109348361&sterm=pendleton+flood

Associated Press, Warsaw, Ky (Mark R. Chellqren). “Ohio River continues to loom as huge flood threat for Kentucky.” Times-Tribune, Corbin, KY, 3-5-1997, p. 2. Accessed 1-31-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=223925953&sterm=millersburg

Corbin Times Tribune, KY. “Details: Tenn. Governor asks Clinton to declare state as a disaster area.” 3-7-1997, p. 2. Accessed 1-31-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=223925979&sterm

Corbin Times Tribune, KY. “Victims: As flood waters recede, many Kentuckians find complete devastation.” 3-7-1997, p. 2. Accessed 1-31-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=223925979&sterm

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Indiana, Clark, March 1-2, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5597000

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Gallatin, March 1, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5597045

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Mason, March 1-2, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596883

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Muhlenberg, March 1, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5594897

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Owen, March 1-2, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596873

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Shelby, March 1-2, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596600

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Warren, March 1-2, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5597015

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Missouri, New Madrid, March 1, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5594911

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Ohio, Adams, March 1-2, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596877

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Ohio, Brown, March 1-2, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596881

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Ohio, Pike, March 2, 1997. Accessed 1-30-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5597047

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Bourbon, March 1-3, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596785

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Franklin, March 2-8, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596803

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Hardin, March 2-13, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596790

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Jefferson, March 1-3, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5596331

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Pendleton, March 1-6, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5597066

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Ohio, Gallia, March 2-6, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5594375

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Tennessee, Madison, March 1-11, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2013: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5595076

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Tennessee, Shelby, March 1-11, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2013: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5595075

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, West Virginia, Calhoun, March 2, 1997, 09:00 to March 3, 1997, 08:00 EST. Accessed 1-31-2013: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5594409

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, West Virginia, Wayne County, March 2-7, 1997. Accessed 1-31-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5594414

National Weather Service, NOAA. Service Assessment. Ohio River Valley Flood of March 1997. Silver Spring, MD: NWS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce, Aug 1998, 35 pages. Accessed 1-31-2016 at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/Dis_Svy/OhioR_Mar97/Ohio.pdf

U.S. Geological Survey (K. Scott Jackson and Stephen A. Vivian). Flood of March 1997 in Southern Ohio. Columbus, OH: USGS Water Resources Investigations Report 97-4149, in cooperation with Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 1997. Accessed 1=30-2016 at: http://oh.water.usgs.gov/reports/Flood/flood.rpt.html

[1] In addition to the 21 lives lost in KY, 5 in OH, 4 in TN, and 3 in WV, reported by NWS for the Ohio River Valley, we note 1 each in IN, MS and MO, which were also storm-related flooding deaths.

[2] “…a total of 33 people lost their lives due to flooding, including 21 in Kentucky…”

[3] AP, Warsaw, Ky (Mark R. Chellqren). “Ohio River continues to loom as huge flood threat for Kentucky.” Times-Tribune, Corbin, KY, 3-5-1997, p. 2, citing emergency officials to the effect that death was “the result of a flash flood.” NCDC Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Bourbon, notes the flooding was from Hingston Creek.

[4] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Flood, Franklin, March 2-8, 1997.

[5] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Kentucky, Jefferson, County, March 1-3, 1997.

[6] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Mason, March 1-2, 1997.

[7] NCDC. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, KY, Muhlenberg, March 1, 1997. Notes a man “drowned in Cypress Creek near Central City around 5 PM. The man was attempting to ride in a rubber inner-tube on a swollen portion of the creek. Witnesses report the current forced him under a concrete bridge. The body was located a few days later.”

[8] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Owen, March 1-2, 1997.

[9] The AP report notes “Four more victims were discovered Wednesday [March 5] as floodwaters receded [from Falmouth], bringing the death toll to five there.” The NCDC notes that “Five people were killed by the river flooding all of which [whom] returned to their homes after being evacuated to shelters.”

[10] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Kentucky, Warren, March 1-2, 1997.

[11] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Missouri, New Madrid, March 1, 1997. Notes that the victim’s car “went out of control and into the St. Johns Bayou drainage ditch…[he] pulled his wife to safety from the vehicle, then he fell back into the flooded ditch. His body was swept away and not recovered for over 24 hours.”

[12] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Ohio, Adams, March 1-2, 1997; Associated Press, Columbus, OH (Amy Beth Graves). “Deadly flooding causes havoc in several states.” Orange County Register, CA, 3-3-1997, p. 5, which identifies victim as Jason Hall.

[13] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Ohio, Adams, March 1-2, 1997. This could be reference to Deborah Heterick, 34, of Felicity, Clermont, OH, who the AP identifies as a flood victim.

[14] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Ohio, Brown, March 1-2, 1997.

[15] Male, 76, in a vehicle, who drowned between March 2 and 6, according to NCDC. Storm Events Database. Flood.

[16] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flash Flood, Ohio, Pike, March 2, 1997. Notes: “He had been advised to evacuate but decided to stay.”

[17] Associated Press. “Deadly flooding causes havoc in several states.” Orange County Register, CA, 3-3-1997, p. 5.

[18] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Tennessee, Madison, March 1-11, 1997. Female, 31; male, 40.

[19] Not included in our tally – noted in order to indicate our awareness of these non-Ohio Valley flood deaths.

[20] Corbin Times Tribune, KY. “Victims: As flood waters recede…Kentuckians find…devastation.” 3-7-1997, p. 2. Also, NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, West Virginia, Wayne County, March 2-7, 1997.