HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - A prolonged period of heavy rain brought widespread flooding to Kentucky during the weekend of February 15th. Widespread rainfall totals ranging from two to more than six inches occurred, with the highest amounts found from southwest to central portions of the state. Most of this rain fell from February 14th through February 15th. At least a dozen river sites had preliminary crests within the top five of recorded crests.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District increased its operational tempo by monitoring water levels and project performance in Kentucky, Southern West Virginia and Virginia.
The National Weather Service issued a total of 30 Flood Warnings and 47 Flash Flood Warnings. The impacts were felt across the state with more than 300 road closures, over 40,000 people were left without power. More than 1,000 water rescues were performed. 14 fatalities have been reported across the region as of February 20.
Five of the lakes in the impacted area have crested. Four of these lakes are on the Big Sandy/Guyandotte Rivers in the southern part of the district impacted by the 1977 flood. The current flooding was some of the worst many of these areas have seen since that event.
Dams:
- Bluestone Lake is currently at elevation 1481.86 feet. It crested at an elevation of about 1485.09 feet on the evening of Feb 18.
- North Fork Pound Lake is currently at elevation 1623.06 feet and crested at 1623.3 feet on Feb. 19.
- Fishtrap Lake is currently at elevation 790.35 feet crested at 795.5 feet on Feb. 19.
- Paintsville Lake is currently at elevation 718.04 feet and crested at 718.9 feet on Feb. 19
- R.D. Bailey Lake is currently at elevation 11092.14 feet and crested at 1100.92 0n Feb. 17.
- North Branch Kokosing is currently at elevation1121.85 feet and crested at 1127.96 on Feb. 16.
The dams are releasing water to minimize flooding downstream to the maximum extent possible and are all functioning as designed.
Local Protection Projects:
Flooding in April 1977 in parts of West Virginia and Virginia, caused significant damage and some fatalities and again in November 1977, major flooding impacted the Ohio River Valley, including parts of West Virginia and Kentucky.
Given this history, Congress allocated more money for flood control projects in the region, potentially through Section 202 of Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. These acts are passed annually by Congress and fund various projects related to energy and water resources management in the United States. The resulting projects that have been completed or on-going.
Local protection projects throughout the affected area include Williamson, West Williamson, Matewan and Magnolia in West Virginia as well as South Williamson, Appalachian Regional Hospital, Pikeville, Prestonsburg in Kentucky and Grundy in Virginia. All local protection projects performed as intended.
Next Steps in Mitigation:
Surveying teams will deploy to capture high water mark elevations throughout the basin to inform hydraulic modeling for: designs, Emergency Action Plans, Water Control Manuals... etc. Water Management will develop the flood damage reductions for the event in the coming weeks.
All Huntington District flood risk management projects functioned as designed through the February 2025 Kentucky flood event. The ability of these structures to divert or impound flood waters is critical to mitigating flood damages across the region.
For more information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at 304-399-5353.