Flooding in Kentucky, March 1 to 7, 1997

Name: Flooding in Kentucky, March 1 to 7, 1997
Start: 1997-03-01T05:00
End: 1997-03-07T19:00
Location: Kentucky

March 1 to 7, 1997 · NWS LMK · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Record flooding occurred all along the Licking River basin as 24 hour rainfall amounts beginning early March 1 totaled from 6 to 10 inches. 0 feet (flood stage is 18 feet) at 5 am est on March 2.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $8.4 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS LMK wrote it up.

Record flooding occurred all along the Licking River basin as 24 hour rainfall amounts beginning early March 1 totaled from 6 to 10 inches. Stoner Creek at Paris crested at a record 30.0 feet (flood stage is 18 feet) at 5 am est on March 2. The Licking River at Cynthiana crested at a record 28.0 feet (flood stage is 20 feet) at 530 pm est on March 2. The Licking River at Blue Licks Spring crested at a record 47.6 feet (flood stage is 25 feet) at 7 pm est on March 2. The towns of Blue Licks Spring, Cynthiana and Paris all received major flooding with many homes and businesses under water. All of these counties were declared federal disaster areas and received federal aid. A 66 year old man was found dead in his pickup truck by Hingston Creek in Millersburg.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Bourbon

When: March 1, 5:00 AM EST to March 3, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Bourbon forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $3.5 million
Coordinates: 38.207, -84.217 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Nicholas

When: March 1, 2:00 PM EST to March 7, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Nicholas forecast zone
Property damage: $450,000
Coordinates: 38.336, -84.015 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Harrison

When: March 1, 7:00 PM EST to March 4, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Harrison forecast zone
Property damage: $4.5 million
Coordinates: 38.442, -84.331 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Flood, Bourbon	1997-03-02	66	Male	In Water	Direct

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kentucky in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, March 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5596785, 5596786, 5596787.