'Unprecedented' 6-11 inches of rain Wednesday morning spurs rescues, washouts

What the National Weather Service called "unprecedented" flooding drenched portions of western Kentucky and southern Illinois on Wednesday morning, with some locations setting one-day records.

Many locations saw 9 to 11 inches of rain, especially in Graves County. Hickman and Carlisle counties were also especially hard hit.

Portions of Interstate 69 and 57 became water covered. Law enforcement and emergency management urged residents to stay home. Numerous roads were impassable and many culverts were washed out.

Flash flood warnings went into effect for almost every county in western Kentucky. Even more than the usual flash flood warning, four separate flash flood emergency declarations were issued for Graves, Ballard, Hickman, Calisle and McCracken counties, declaring that extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening flooding was occurring.

McCracken County Disaster and Emergency Services notified all members to report for duty, and swift water rescue teams were mobilized by McCracken County fire and rescue squads. Residents were reported to be trapped in homes in western McCracken County.

Large sections of Mayfield went under water, and numerous water rescues began taking place from many vehicles and houses. Flooding in downtown Mayfield required barricades on East Broadway and 10th Street.

Emergency officials noted that some people were getting out to drive and view the flooding, then becoming stranded themselves. This takes emergency personnel away from helping people who are trapped in their homes. Please continue to stay off of flooded roads if you do not have essential business on that road, and stay out of the way of emergency personnel and emergency vehicles.

Water was running over roadways in locations where there has not usually been flooding in the past. Highway departments are running out of "water over road" signs to cover all of the roads in their counties.