LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Days after the last of the heavy rain had passed, two vehicles were submerged in floodwaters Wednesday at Mellwood Avenue at Delmont Avenue in Louisville.
That area isn’t even the center of the Ohio River, as its banks are at least a half-mile away, but the water was approaching street signs while inundating homes.
A crew from the Waterfront Botanical Gardens got into a kayak to get through floodwaters to check on delicate plants. The gardens are closed until further notice because of flooding.
“We cannot access the gardens," said Megan Bibelhauser, Waterfront Botanical Gardens director of marketing and communications. "Power has been cut off to the entire area. So for us as a team, obviously we are all working remotely right now."
"There are numerous concerns, one of which are our plants. Are they safe and well, and will they survive after this?"
The botanical gardens are built on top of a former landfill, meaning the site sits high up.
“We’re very lucky that the gardens sit as high as they do, so thank you to the landfill,” Bibelhauser said.
They’ve had conversations with the horticulture team that this level of flooding for some plants near River Road and Frankfort Avenue may not sustain being submerged in floodwaters for this long.
“We will probably lose a significant amount of plants," Bibelhauser said. "We do have an overflow lot on Frankfort Avenue. We planted about 50 trees in the fall of 2023, and we’re quite concerned with how they will weather this flood.”
It’s a bit of wait-and-see when it comes to the plants at the lower portion of the property, but things were fine at the top of the gardens while the Bonsai trees got needed water.
Over at the brand new Playport, on Rowan Street, which is blocked off, Louisville resident Daniel Morgan and his daughter came to play and check out the flooding. The picnic table area was under some water, and there were water and debris in the parking area.
The Playport sits along the Ohio River and opened not even two weeks ago.
“We finally get a new amenity here, and immediately, nature starts taking a toll on it," Morgan said. "It’s disheartening, but I am glad that it’s not inundated. We are able to stand on this play surface and talk right now."
Morgan and his daughter were among the first families to play at the Playport, which is surrounded by a flood wall. There’s also a flood wall up on Rowan Street.
Morgan, a teacher, said he'd give the new park's physical handling of the floodwaters a high grade.
“It’s elevated high," Morgan said. "That’s a big, big protective point. On that criteria, that’s an 'A.'"
The Ohio River crested in Louisville, but the water is traveling downstream throughout the rest of the state.
