State of emergency in Clay City

CLAY CITY, Ky. (WTVQ) — The mayor declared a state of emergency for Clay City Sunday night.

“It was around 11 o’clock when I got the phone call from Steve Absury saying they were gonna raise the predicted crest to 22 feet and it might possibly go higher so that’s when I decided we need to declare a state of emergency,” says Mayor Kenny Rice.

The mayor says at 22 feet that puts water in homes on main street, like his own but the Red River ended up cresting at 21 feet and three inches.

“So we’re very fortunate and lucky that we dodged a bullet because it could’ve been a lot worse,” says Mayor Rice.

He says there were no problems with water inside any homes that he’s aware of or any water rescues.

“We only had one instance that I know of and I’ve been out this morning of a garage that got some water in it on Third Street in the bottom and my neighbor’s garage got a little water in it,” says the mayor.

He says unfortunately if you live in the area you know flooding is always a potential problem. He’s had anywhere from 18 inches to three feet of water in his home.

“It’s stressful enough worrying about your own place but when you’re the newly elected mayor and you have to worry about the entire city it takes the stress level to a different level for sure,” says Mayor Rice.

The mayor says Second Avenue, along with Pompeii Road and Third Street are closed.

He urges the public to not try and drive through them.

“They don’t realize they’re putting their lives, not only their lives but if people have to rescue them their lives in danger as well and it’s a pretty selfish act,” says Mayor Rice.

He says this is the highest waters have gotten to in nine years.

Sunday, levels were hitting a rate of about a foot an hour, according to the mayor.