The remnants of Hurricane Laura, which made landfall in Louisiana Thursday morning as a Category 4 hurricane, will impact the region on Friday with strong winds, heavy rain and the possibility of tornadoes and flash flooding.
Though Daviess County is not currently under a flash flood watch, officials with Daviess County Emergency Management Agency said that could change as the tropical depression moves closer to the area.
DCEMA Director Andy Ball said the impacts from Hurricane Laura are likely to hit Daviess County from 3-8 p.m. Friday, as confirmed Thursday by the National Weather Service.
Every western Kentucky county aside from Daviess, Union and Henderson are under a flash flood warning, Ball added.
At this time, Daviess County is expected to receive around 1.5 inches of rain Friday with wind speeds estimated to reach 30 MPH. Maximum wind gusts for the area are expected to hit 35-40 MPH.
Ball said winds of that strength would bring down damaged or previously weakened trees. Daviess County residents were likely to see some trees bring down some power lines as well, he added.
The Storm Prediction Center said there’s also a chance of thunderstorms affecting the region Friday afternoon and evening. The region is currently facing a 5% chance for tornado activity and a 15% chance for damaging winds.
“We’re not out of the woods in Daviess County,” Ball said. “As the storm crosses us, it’ll likely continue to decay, but it may not.”
The biggest issue facing local residents is the timing of the storm, Ball said, as it’s predicted to strike right when kids are getting out of school and people are getting out of work. Even worse, it’s occurring on a Friday, which typically means more people will be on the road when the worst of the storm hits.
“If we get heavy rain all at once, we could be looking at flash floods,” Ball said. “The most important thing to remember is, ‘Turn around, don’t drown.’ You may need to take an alternate route when leaving work or picking your kids up from school.”
