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Harlan County, along with much of the region, suffered significant flooding over the weekend. The flooding began following heavy rains on Saturday, Feb. 15, just days after another heavy rain event occurred leaving the ground saturated and the creeks and rivers near their limit.
Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley provided frequent updates on the situation via social media outlets and local radio. Harlan County Emergency Management also provided regular updates throughout the event, helping keep residents up to date on the situation.
“The Poor Fork has risen 3.5 feet in one hour and was at 12 feet at 1:00p.m. Flood stage is 16 feet. Martins Fork and Cloverfork are rising fast also. If the rise continues at this pace, we will be at flood stage by 2:30,” Mosley reported at approximately 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15.

According to Mosley, by 3 p.m., the Poor Fork of the Cumberland River was at 19 feet, three feet past flood stage. The Cloverfork River had exceeded its banks at Coxton, covering the bridge. Preparations were being made to close the flood gate at North Main Street in downtown Harlan.

Harlan County Sheriff Chris Brewer mentioned the rescue of three juveniles by Harlan County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Lewis.

“Deputy Josh Lewis responded to a call of 3 children trapped in a home,” Brewer posted on his social media page. “He drove as far as he could and then waded through waist deep water. Josh is 6 ft 6 by the way. All is safe.”

By the morning of Sunday, Feb. 16, the rain had slowed, and the waters had receded, though levels remained above flood stage for a few hours.

“Throughout the night water levels have dropped in all areas of the county. We are still at flood stage presently, 16.5 feet at Baxter. The heavy rain from 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. didn’t send the river climbing back up, which is really good news,” Mosley said at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Harlan County Emergency Management Director Stephen Lewis talked about the event in an interview on Monday.

According to Lewis, the river level crested in Baxter at approximately 7 p.m. on Saturday at 24.5 feet, and at approximately 8:15 p.m. at 23.53 feet in Loyall. Flood stage is 16 feet.

“We didn’t drop below flood stage at the Loyall until 3 a.m. Sunday morning,” Lewis said.

The damage assessment began on Monday. It will take some time for damage to property and homes to be logged and evaluated before a cost estimate is possible.

“A lot of roads, culverts, things like that were affected,” Lewis said. “There were some mudslides reported in different areas of the county, a lot of it was on state highways.”

Lewis said damage to roads occurred, especially in the Cloverfork area.

“A lot of that damage didn’t necessarily come from the river flooding, it came from the amount of rain that fell at the start of the event was so quick the drainage couldn’t handle it,” Lewis explained. 

Lewis noted information concerning damage to homes is unavailable at this time.

“We are currently evaluating, we don’t have that information yet,” Lewis said. “We’re in the process of the recovery phase and trying to evaluate what damage we have across the county.”

As of 11:20 a.m., no roads remained closed due to the flooding event in Harlan County, Lewis said.

“This was the fifth largest flood recorded in Harlan,” Lewis said.

Lewis provided the top five recorded water levels for flood events in Harlan. The 1977 flood had the highest water level at 34.2 feet, the 1963 flood reached 29.2 feet, 1969 saw a flood reaching 28.5 feet, the 2020 flood reached 26.0 feet, and the 2025 flood reached 24.5 feet. All crest levels were measured at Baxter.

Lewis asks property owners to report any damages. A damage assessment form can be located via a link on the Harlan County Emergency Management Facebook page.

“Damages must be to primary homes (non-agricultural). Damage must be in an essential living space. FEMA’s definition of an essential living space is as follows: “a room within a home that serves the function of a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and / or living room that is regularly occupied or used by one or more members of the household and requires repair to bring its functionality back to the home”.  We also request to list any damage to privately owned driveways, roads, bridges, wells, and septic tanks. The survey link also allows for pictures of the damages and would be a great help if you could upload those as well,” states the Harlan County Emergency Management Facebook post.

Those unable to use the link may call the Harlan County Emergency Management Office at 606-573-6082.

Damage to county roadways should be reported by calling 606-573-6536. To report damage to state roads, call 1-877-367-5982.

No deaths had been reported due to the flood in Harlan County as of noon on Monday, Feb. 17.