Fetch Me An Ark

The lightening began early this morning but the rain didn't start till a little after 8. An hour later, 6 inches had fallen, creating massive flash flooding here in Louisville.
Storms moving into the city.

The Weather Channel has a great twitter page about the flooding. Check it out here.

Only once in my life have I seen in rain like this and that was during Hurricane Elena in 1985 when we were living in Clearwater, Florida. Here is a rundown of what's happening:

1. Interstate 65 has been closed most of the day as sections of the highway near downtown have been under several feet of water.
Interstate 65 flooding.

2. The Watterson Expressway is closed in the southwestern part of the city as sections of the 10 lane expressway are under 5 feet of water.

3. Churchill Downs has had to evacuate horses because of high water.

4. The University of Louisville campus is under 3 feet of water.
UL Campus


5. The main branch of the Louisville Public Library sustained heavy flooding and lost over 10,000 books as well as hundreds of computers.
The Library

6. The United States Coast guard is doing water rescues around the flooded areas.
Water rescue.


7. Louisville International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world (because of UPS World Air Hub) was closed for several hours today. Long delays are expected all day.

8. 20,000 homes without power.

9. A fire, sparked by the storm, destroyed parts of an upscale apartment complex in eastern Louisville.


10. Several area hospitals have been flooded.

11. Many intersections downtown are closed.
Downtown streets

12. Area creeks have flooded their banks. This includes Beargrass Creek and Floyds Fork, the two main drainage basins for Jefferson County.
Beargrass Creek floods downtown streets.


Old Louisville