Hundreds evacuated as Licking River laps at Kentucky town

A sign in Cynthiana, Kentucky, warns of the rising river

Several Northern states buried under snow

February 19, 2000
Web posted at: 1:46 p.m. EST (1846 GMT)

In this story: Fears of a re-run of the 1997 flood Travel delays, lots of snow in North Several die in weather-related accidents RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

FALMOUTH, Kentucky (CNN) -- Emergency workers went door-to-door in flooded areas of the northern Kentucky town of Falmouth on Saturday morning, making sure 300 to 400 homes in areas flooded by the rising Licking River were empty.

"Most people evacuated on their own last night," said Craig Peoples, Pendleton County emergency manager.

Several low-lying roads were flooded in this largely rural community 35 miles south of Cincinnati, he said. The river, a tributary that flows into the Ohio River at Cincinnati, rose rapidly early Saturday morning after heavy rains pelted the area Friday night.

On Saturday morning the river was at 36 feet, which is 4 feet over flood stage, Peoples said. He predicted it would crest at 41 feet at 1 a.m. EST on Sunday.

Cincinnati also prepared for potential problems. The rising Ohio River is predicted to reach a flood stage of 52 feet on Sunday morning. Dozens of other rivers in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio continued to pour over their banks as well.

A couple attempts to hail a taxi during a snowstorm Friday in Boston

This is the second time in three years that the Licking River has overflowed its banks.

The devastating 1997 flood killed five people and destroyed 250 buildings in this town of about 2,500 residents.

"We could have up to 400 homes affected by this flooding before the Licking reaches its expected crest," Peoples said Saturday. "The big difference between this flood and the one three years ago is that the water came up so much faster then, and caught us off guard."

One public shelter was opened at a middle school to receive evacuees, Peoples said, although he did not expect many people to use it. The Falmouth business section was not expected to flood this time, he said.

The rising rivers are a part of a late winter storm system that continued to affect several regions Saturday.

Freezing rain fell over the Northeast, and significant snowfalls fell throughout New England. The Middle Atlantic region and the Southeast experienced heavy rain. Hail was reported in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky.

In the Albany, New York, suburb of Colonie, Amy Benson loaded her shopping cart full of canned soup, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows to endure the improved but still cold conditions still forecast for the weekend.

"I figure the kids will want to play outside in the snow," she said, "so I'd better have all the right stuff to warm them up when they come inside and are all wet and bright pink."

Real life contrasts with the world pictured in a beauty shop on 56th Avenue in New York on Friday

Few flight cancellations had been reported Saturday morning, an improvement from Friday, when hundreds of flights were canceled at major airports.

Chicago's airports saw nearly 300 flights scrubbed Friday because of poor visibility and wet and icy snow, and Northwest Airlines canceled 156 flights scheduled to arrive or depart Friday from Detroit. Flights also were canceled Friday in Philadelphia, Boston and Newark, New Jersey.

Up to a foot of snow was recorded in parts of eastern New York with lesser amounts in other states. Nine inches of snow were recorded in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska; 6 inches in parts of Massachusetts; and 4 inches in areas of northern Ohio and New Hampshire.

At least four deaths were blamed on the weather. An inflatable boat capsized during a rescue effort along a swollen creek outside Charleston, West Virginia, leaving one person dead and two presumed drowned. Four others were rescued.

One driver was killed when her car spun out of control and hit an oncoming car in Portage, Wisconsin, and a trucker was killed as his tractor-trailer jackknifed in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where 3 inches of snow fell, a multivehicle accident also left a Virginia couple dead.

The weather system spawned tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that moved from central Arkansas into the Mississippi Delta, damaging more than 100 homes and leaving eight people with minor injuries. High winds and rain in Tennessee destroyed a mobile home and downed some power lines and trees, but no injuries were reported. Hail was reported in the Little Rock, Arkansas, area.

Chicago Bureau Chief Jeff Flock and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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