Mother Nature got in one last lick before the close of a year plagued by damaging weather events in Crittenden County. Saturday's flooding and high winds following some unseasonably warm weather kept emergency workers busy with a number of weather-related problems.A line of severe thunderstorms swept across western Kentucky and Crittenden County after nightfall, dropping torrential rains following wind gusts reported as high as 60 mph. In Marion, three residents were taken to Crittenden Hospital after their car became submerged in floodwaters.
Jimmy Rose, Kimberly Shantz and Steven Spurlin were taken to the hospital after the car in which they were riding ended up in a ditch off Bridwell Loop in Marion. Rose, the driver of the car, lived nearby, said Marion Police Chief Ray O'Neal.
"It looked like they just hit the water and didn't see where the road was," the police chief said.
All three were taken to the hospital, but none appeared to be seriously injured, O'Neal said.
Floodwaters were running off a hill and across the road into a ditch. The passenger side of the car was partially submerged in the water before it was pulled out by a wrecker.
Elsewhere, downed power lines and trees were reported across the county. Ky 135 was blocked for a time by a downed tree, according to emergency radio dispatches. Dispatcher Robbie Tabor said she was too busy to recount all the calls she had received during the storm.
Crittenden Volunteer firefighters also responded to a trailer fire during the storm. The home, which belongs to Bernie Bradford and is located off U.S. 60 West in Levias, was not destroyed and was still livable, said Billy Arflack, one of the firefighters who responded. No one was injured or home at the time of the fire.
Smoke damage appeared to be the extent of Saturday's fire's results, he said. Arflack said firefighters had recently been called to a fire at the same residence.
Crittenden County Sheriff's Deputy Don Perry reported the fire while on patrol.
