Spencer County Emergency Services says flash flooding caused nearly a million dollars worth of damage

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Spencer County Emergency Services said flash flooding caused three quarters to a million dollars worth of damage throughout the county.

That's according to Robert Klinglesmith, the county's emergency services director.

"The force of the water this time was way worse than we were accustomed to," said Klinglesmith, "Which has caused all this buckling and the pavement to come up off the ground."

Klinglesmith said flooding caused several issues to roads. Robert Road was left severely damaged after flood water shifted culvert five to seven feet.

The culver shifting caused concrete on the road to break, and it now needs several repairs. Klinglesmith said there's about $90,000 to $100,000 worth of damage on Roberts Road alone.

"We have a lot of road damage, a lot of black top washed away, a lot of culvert issues. We have a lot of retaining wall issues where water was able to get behind retaining walls," he said.

When asked if there is anything that can be done to make these areas more resilient, the emergency services director said there's not a lot of mitigation that can be done to prevent it.

Klinglesmith said he hopes President Donald Trump makes an emergency or major disaster declaration to give Kentucky access to FEMA funds, but fears those funds won't come quickly.

Spencer County's emergency services director said the county will use road funds to cover the cost of repairs in hopes of later being reimbursed, and that the county is working to get the road up and running as fast as it can.