NWS Urges Perry County Flood Preparedness as March Marks Peak Season

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Jackson, Kentucky, published reminders and preparedness guidance for Kentucky Flood Safety Week on Feb. 25, 2026, a release the agency issued as officials and media prepare communities for spring river risk. LEX18’s coverage of that guidance highlighted that “March is the peak month for river flooding in eastern Kentucky,” a seasonal signal that places Perry County in a heightened risk window for rising streams and overflow.

Local officials in Perry County should note the NWS Jackson publication date and seek specific river forecasts and action steps from the Jackson office; the supplied NWS release text itself has not been published in the material obtained for this report, so county emergency managers and residents should consult NWS Jackson for detailed stage and evacuation guidance. The research notes identify the Feb. 25, 2026 publication as the initiating action by NWS Jackson but do not include the full text or explicit Kentucky Flood Safety Week dates.

National and regional outreach this spring underscores the message seen in Kentucky. Baylor University’s Feb. 27, 2026 press release for NWS Fort Worth/Dallas framed a nearby example with the headline “Stay Weather Ready: Severe Weather Awareness Week March 2-6, 2026” and reproduced the NWS admonition that “The NWS notes that floods take the lives of more people in the United States each year than any other thunderstorm-related hazard. Many flood deaths are the result of people driving into flooded roads. Turn Around, Don't Drown!” The Baylor release also listed March 2-6, 2026 as the North and Central Texas Severe Weather Awareness Week, showing how NWS offices use focused weeks to distribute preparedness messaging.

The compiled national calendar provided with the NWS materials shows many states scheduling flood and severe-weather awareness blocks this spring, including date clusters March 8-14, 2026 and April 5-11, 2026. Connecticut and New Hampshire each list Flood Safety Awareness Week among other campaigns for those March and April windows, while New Mexico lists Monsoon Awareness Week June 7-13, 2026. Those overlapping state schedules demonstrate a multi-state push to promote flood readiness during months identified as higher risk.

Practical notification examples from the Baylor release illustrate channels Perry County officials can adapt: Baylor enumerated its Baylor Alert emergency notification system, including an Outdoor Notification System for the main Waco campus only, Baylor Alert email from baylor@email.getrave.com, Baylor Alert text messages, audio messages to phones, website notices, official social channels, and the Baylor Information Line at 254-710-4411. Baylor Media & Public Relations provided a contact number of 254-710-1961 and the social handle @BaylorUMedia for its distributed release.

Perry County leaders and households should track NWS Jackson updates and Kentucky emergency management announcements for local river stages and evacuation instructions; the Feb. 25, 2026 NWS Jackson publication and LEX18’s statement that “March is the peak month for river flooding in eastern Kentucky” establish the timing, but local flood-forecast details and official Kentucky Flood Safety Week dates remain to be confirmed directly with NWS Jackson and state emergency officials.