LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A state of emergency was declared Thursday in Louisville after a tornado ripped through Jeffersontown and more storms are expected to bring severe flooding in the coming days.
City officials said no one was killed or injured when a tornado and severe weather touched down in eastern Jefferson County and Jeffersontown on Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said many businesses and homes suffered heavy damage.
"Nobody was hurt, so that's the good news, but of course many businesses and homes suffered very significant damage in and around the J-town and Middletown area," Greenberg said.
The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in Jefferson County, near the Interstate 64/265 interchange. However, NWS meteorologists won't survey the area on the ground until Sunday or Monday, as they continue gathering storm reports and await the upcoming days of heavy rain to pass.
Pictured: this frame grab taken from WDRB drone video, shows the damaged facade of the Chick-fil-A on Blankenbaker Parkway in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2 and the early morning hours of April 3, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: this frame grab taken from WDRB drone video shows damaged buildings and debris left behind in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2 and the early morning hours of April 3, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: this image from WDRB viewer Michael Angelini shows a tree blocking the road at Blankenbaker Crossings at Blankenbaker Parkway and Plantside Drive in Jeffersontown after storms moved through the area in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Michael Angelini)
Pictured: in this image dated April 3, 2025, a snapped utility pole is seen through a chain-link fence on Green Valley Road in New Albany, Ind., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB image)
IMAGES | Powerful storms leave behind widespread damage in Kentucky and Indiana
WDRB viewers are sharing images of damage left behind by tornado-spawning storms that moved though Kentucky and Indiana late Wednesday and early Thursday.
Pictured: this frame grab taken from WDRB drone video, shows the damaged facade of the Chick-fil-A on Blankenbaker Parkway in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2 and the early morning hours of April 3, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: this image from WDRB viewer Cecil Goodloe shows damage at the Chick-fil-A on Blankenbaker Parkway in Jeffersontown, Ky., after severe storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Cecil Goodloe)
Pictured: this frame grab taken from WDRB drone video shows a building damaged in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2 and the early morning hours of April 3, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: this frame grab taken from WDRB drone video, shows buildings damaged in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2 and the early morning hours of April 3, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: This image from WDRB viewer Bill Murrey shows an overturned tree that was uprooted during the severe storms that moved through Kentucky and Indiana during the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Bill Murrey)
Pictured: this image dated April 3, 2025, shows damage left behind by at Plantside Drive and Campus Place after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana on April 2, 2025. (WDRB viewer Dave B.)
Pictured: this frame grab taken from WDRB drone video shows damaged buildings and debris left behind in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2 and the early morning hours of April 3, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: this image from WDRB viewer Cecil Goodloe shows damage at J&J Transportation on Plantside Drive in Jeffersontown, Ky., after severe storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Cecil Goodloe)
Pictured: this image from WDRB viewer Joe Junior shows trucks damaged at Bachman Chevrolet at 9650 Bluegrass Parkway in Louisville, Ky., after powerful storms moved through the area in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Joe Junior)
Pictured: this image from WDRB viewer Joe Junior shows trucks damaged at Bachman Chevrolet at 9650 Bluegrass Parkway in Louisville, Ky., after powerful storms moved through the area in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Joe Junior)
Pictured: this image from WDRB viewer Michael Angelini shows damage at Blankenbaker Crossings at Blankenbaker Parkway and Plantside Drive after storms moved through the area in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Michael Angelini)
Pictured: this image from WDRB viewer Michael Angelini shows trees damaged at Blankenbaker Crossings at Blankenbaker Parkway and Plantside Drive after storms moved through the area in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Michael Angelini)
Pictured: in this image from WDRB drone video, a business that had its peeled off is seen in the industrial park in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms in the late evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: this frame grab taken from WDRB video shows a building damaged in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2 and the early morning hours of April 3, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: in this image from WDRB drone video, a business that had its roof peeled off is seen in the industrial park in Jeffersontown, Ky., after powerful storms in the late evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: this image from WDRB viewer Michael Angelini shows a tree blocking the road at Blankenbaker Crossings at Blankenbaker Parkway and Plantside Drive in Jeffersontown after storms moved through the area in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Michael Angelini)
Pictured: this image from WDRB Facebook commenter Andrea Pinkston Ritman shows a business on Campus Place and Plantside Drive in Jeffersontown that was damaged by powerful storms in the late evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Andrea Pinkston Ritman)
Pictured: this image dated April 3, 2025, shows a downed utility pole on Green Valley Road in New Albany, Ind., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB/Reyna Katko)
Pictured: this image dated April 3, 2025, shows a downed utility pole on Green Valley Road in New Albany, Ind., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025.
- Reyna Katko
Pictured: in this image dated April 3, 2025, a snapped utility pole is seen through a damaged fence on Green Valley Road in New Albany, Ind., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: this image dated April 3, 2025, shows a downed utility pole on Green Valley Road in New Albany, Ind., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025.
- Reyna Katko
Pictured: this frame grab taken from video shows a tree down outside a home in Floyd County, Ind., after powerful storms moved through Indiana and Kentucky in the late evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: in this image dated April 3, 2025, a utility pole is seen in an area on Green Valley Road in New Albany, Ind., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB image)
Pictured: in this image dated April 3, 2025, a snapped utility pole is seen through a chain-link fence on Green Valley Road in New Albany, Ind., after powerful storms moved through Kentucky and Indiana in the evening hours of April 2, 2025. (WDRB image)
The severe storms are expected to continue through Sunday as there's potential for historic amounts of rain.
"We're not out of the woods yet," Greenberg said Thursday afternoon. "We're expecting significant rainfall over the next couple of days."
Salvador Melendez, spokesperson for Anchorage Middletown Fire and EMS, said the first call for crews came just in after midnight, and they responded to more than 23 calls for service. Crews immediately deployed search and rescue, as 60 personnel worked from midnight to 3 a.m. There were more than 30 homes that sustained "significant damage," Melendez said.
"Jeffersontown has been devastated," Jeffersontown Mayor Carol Pike said. "We will survive this."
Greenberg said one of the most important things you can do now is to sign up for emergency notifications by texting "LensAlert" to 67283. Once you've signed up, you'll be notified about severe weather so you don't have to rely on hearing warning sirens.
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is also already in the Louisville-area to help register those who have sustained damage from the storms this week. To apply online for help from FEMA, click here.
"This is a unique situation over the next several days because we're recovering from incidents like this, but we're also preparing and responding to other weather emergencies that are going to occur over the next three to four days," said Jody Meiman with Louisville Metro Emergency Services.
Clean up is going to be needed.
Mayor Craig Greenberg has declared a state of emergency in all of Jefferson County after last night’s storms. He says as of now, no injuries have been reported despite the significant strength of these storms. @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/1esw5es1aJ
— Hayden Ristevski (@HaydenRistevski) April 3, 2025
This story will be updated.
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