If you have lived in Owensboro for at least 5 years you know the areas that flood when it rains. Last spring, right before the drought, we experienced a somewhat better spring flood season.

The area in front of KWC on Frederica didn't flood during a thunderstorm, Scherm Road was better and the area known for decades as "Lake Placid" was wet but with little deep water. This year it looks like the millions of dollars the City of Owensboro invested in storm water drainage paid off.

After four days of heavy non-stop rains Lake Placid is Lake dry, Byers from Jefferson down to J.R. Miller is passable and the area in front of the Owensboro Country Club and Legion Park has no standing water. Score one for the storm water engineers.

The biggest problem in the city seems to be the Ohio River. With the boat ramp 100 yards away from land and the lower parking lot under at least 10 feet of water English Park is an interesting spot to visit.

The downtown riverwalk  has water over it right now and McConnell Plaza could see some flooding if we get another three to four feet of rise on the Ohio. The old Executive Inn Rivermont Showroom Lounge location is still high and dry but the river getting close.

The county is another story. Only two minutes past Towne Square Mall you can find flooded fields. Panther Creek is out of it's banks and Brown's Valley looks like Mobile Bay. The county (depending on where you are) is full of backwater or headwater or just plain water. Several farmers have lost the early planting of corn and wildlife is forced to find higher drier and perhaps more populated areas to call home.

I took a few hours today (April 25) to go around areas in Owensboro known for flooding in the past. I took a few pictures to show the vast improvement in drainage. I also went out into Daviess County with my friend Jim Goode. We followed the State Highway Dept. workers who were putting up flooding signs and found some interesting displaced wildlife. A snake, turtle and a couple of blue herons.

I also came upon a Sheriff's Deputy working a one vehicle accident. The driver was not hurt but the truck and fence need some mending. This is a good place to remind everyone to drive carefully on wet roads.

Rain Rain and more rain is in the forecast for the next 48 hours or so and conditions could get worse so please be careful. Please take a minute to view the photos. City and County are both equal in the eyes of Mother Nature and stormwater flooding is something nobody wants.

I went back out on Tuesday April 26. I spent part of the afternoon with Realtor Richard Flaherty. He told me about how flooding affects property prices. The later part of the day was spent surveying the flooding with Daviess County Judge Executive Al Mattingly. "I'm not sure we could stop this type of flooding even if we spent $100 million. Some of these farmers have already planted some corn and they lost that planting. It looks like is may be late May before they will get to put a new crop out," he said while traveling the Redhill-Maxwell Road area.

We ended our tour near Stanley just as the tornado sirens went off around 4:45pm. Then it was off the the courthouse to check with the emergency services command center. The storms did little damage during the first round but everyone agreed it was going to be a long long night with more storms  predicted.

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