WINCHESTER, Ky. — Downtown Winchester is lined with cones and two condemned building signs after dangerous floodwaters. According to Emergency Management there have been over 60 reports of damage to homes and businesses.
Dealing with the remnants of flood damage is not stopping the owner of Joe’s Detail Shop owner Joe Chenault from working on a Sunday afternoon with a little football in the background.
“On Sunday I will clean my own [car] and through the week I will do the customers [cars] that I have,” said Chenault.
Chenault has lived in Winchester all of his life and has been open for business at Joe’s Detail Shop for twenty of those years. He has played on the predominantly African American baseball team and even reminisces about what business used to fill his town's streets. He has only ever seen flooding like Thursday’s flood one other time in his life.
“I went down in my basement and the whole basement was flooded, I had to go put on boots because it came up to my knees. I just got a new hot water heater, we just put in. It was knee high and above,” said Chenault.
The heavy rain left tires floating in Chenault’s basement that he was planning to put on his suburban truck, he saw with his own eyes the effects of the rain. Thursday evening he was gathering at his son’s home for a birthday party and saw many people trying to go through floodwater.
“The wrecker service was really busy hauling out cars. A Lot of cars tried to go through the water and did not make it of course, it was a sight to see,” said Chenault.
The Winchester Fire Department reports rescuing twenty motorists from floodwater trapping them. The University of Kentucky Climate Consortium studies natural disasters like this flood and knows exactly why rainfall like this happens. Alan Fryar is a University of Kentucky Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty in Environmental and Sustainability Studies who dedicates his time to informing students and the community on climate change.
“As air is able to hold more water vapor it warms, that means both at the rate of evaporation, the rate at which water leaving the surface goes back to the atmosphere will increase because the atmosphere can hold more water vapor. There is also a finite limit to the amount of water vapor the air can hold so when it finally does rain, it is going to rain more intensely,” said Fryar.
Experts like the UK Climate Consortium are certain many areas in the Commonwealth will continue to experience flooding because of global warming. Residents like Chenault are left to pick up the pieces each time.
“Well you have to replace things, the water just took over everything. Everything was just like a pond,” said Chenault.
Conditions are now dry in Winchester but it might not be for long before residents see another soak. Cartwright Designs and 18 E. Broadway Street has been condemned by Clark County and the city of Winchester. The Winchester Police Department is still urging residents with property damage to call 859-901-1555 for a damage assessment.