Aprile Rickert

1 week ago | lpm.org | Aprile Rickert

Streets near the Ohio River in Utica were caked with dirt Monday afternoon. Big piles of drywall, flooring and furniture ruined by flood waters sat near property lines. It’s the start of what many residents say will be a long cleanup. Town officials issued an emergency declaration ahead of the flooding, and closed the town to visitors without business there for around a week. Residents moved their belongings to higher ground and found other places to stay as the waters rose.

1 week ago | lpm.org | Aprile Rickert

Mike Morrow has lived in Utica all his life — 70 years, within three blocks. He’s not a stranger to what the Ohio River can do. Morrow was a kid in the 1964 flood. He remembers thinking it was an adventure, and also getting in trouble for playing in the backwater. In 1997, he got four feet of water in his home. In 2018, there was a lot of damage from just seven inches of water. Morrow watched the water level around his house from a distance this week.

3 weeks ago | lpm.org | Aprile Rickert |Sylvia Goodman

Violent storms swept through Kentucky Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, bringing intense rain, winds and a few radar-indicated tornadoes in several Kentucky communities. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear assured Kentuckians Thursday that there are no reported fatalities as a result of the storm and no injuries have been reported in Louisville yet, according to Mayor Craig Greenberg. Several commercial buildings sustained severe damage in Jeffersontown in the path of one suspected tornado.

3 weeks ago | lpm.org | Aprile Rickert

Drivers lost a major connector between Clarksville and New Albany in February when the Blackiston Mill Dam in Silver Creek failed. The water flowing through it was aimed directly at the foundation of the nearby bridge, making the structure unsafe for travel. Horacio Urieta, Floyd County engineer, said the bridge’s closure has made a big impact on residents. “That bridge, in the normal schedule, is carrying about more than 13,000 cars a day,” he said.

3 weeks ago | lpm.org | Aprile Rickert

Washington County Judge Larry Medlock found on Friday that the Clark County Commissioners did not have the authority to remove all three members of a fire board when they recently voted to do so. It came after hearing arguments for several hours. Just after his ruling, the Utica Township Fire Protection District board took an anticipated vote to approve the territory, which advocates say will bring much-needed service to the area.