Flooding Causes Havoc Across Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Unusually heavy rain has caused flooding in some areas of western Kentucky and may have been a contributing factor in a deadly interstate wreck in south-central Kentucky.

State police were investigating the cause of a crash that killed five people Wednesday morning on Interstate 65 in Hart County. The crash happened during heavy rain, Kentucky State Police Trooper Todd Holder said.

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Meanwhile, schools in Henderson and Union counties in western Kentucky have closed due to the weather and U.S. 60 at the line between the two counties is shut down because of flooding.

Henderson had gotten more than 5 inches of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.

National Weather Service hydrologist Mike Callahan said the rain was expected to become less persistent throughout Wednesday and taper off late in the day. That will help some of the flooded areas, he said.

"We've got to give these creeks a chance to catch up," Callahan said.

The rain is part of a system drenching parts of the Midwest. At least two people were killed in Missouri, and hundreds of flights were grounded at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

In Kentucky, a mudslide Wednesday morning shut down a road in Milton, about 56 miles northeast of Louisville along the Ohio River, Callahan said. Flood warnings remained in effect for multiple counties along the river, including Trimble, Oldham and Jefferson counties, Callahan said.

In western Kentucky, a canoeist was rescued from the Ohio River on Tuesday after officials say he was caught in a swift current. The canoeist wasn't injured, officials said.

The rain is also causing problems for farmers. The cool, wet weather is interfering with calving season, said Henderson County Extension Agent Mike Smith.

Cows and calves can usually handle cooler temperatures during the spring calving season, but the wet weather is bad for livestock, Smith said.

"We're losing a few calves to pneumonia ... We're going to have calves born, and unless you watch them real close, you'll have some loss," Smith said.