Workers at Lost River Cave in Bowling Green are busy this week as they clean up following the recent flooding that hit parts of the state including southern Kentucky. The cave was closed to the public after it saw water levels peak at 40-feet above its normal levels following a torrent of rainfall.
In a post on social media, Lost River Cave executive director Justin Jennings said his team has begun removing debris from the park and repairing damaged electrical equipment.
"We've got a lot of things that we do inside the cave post flood," Jennings said. "We have close to 30-40 lights. We have to go in to inspect each one of them, make sure the connections are still good, and replace the ones that are still bad."
Lost River Cave is a natural watershed that collects rainwater runoff for roughly 55-square miles of land in southern Warren County. The seven-mile cave system is home to underground boat tours, hiking trails, and outdoor activities.
Hiking trails at the park and walking tours outside the cave will begin on Thursday after being closed to the public due to high water.
According to Jennings, boat tours are expected to be closed for a couple of weeks until the cave is operational again.
"We have to look for debris that might have been brought in that could impact our boat tour," Jennings said. "We typically have logs that come in that can settle out on the bottom, and that can grab ahold of our motors as we're trying to give our boat tour."
The cave is accepting donations from the public to assist its cleanup efforts.
