Mother and child drown in flood waters

Mary Beth Sallee

Editor

Hart Co. News-Herald

 

A mother and child died last Saturday night after their vehicle was swept away by flood waters in Bonnieville.

Hart County Coroner Tony Roberts stated that the mother and driver of the car was Amy Philpott of Vine Grove. The name of the juvenile victim was not released but was identified as a 7-year-old female.

According to Dennis Amos, Chief of the Bonnieville Volunteer Fire Department, a notification was paged out through dispatch on the night of February 15 of a vehicle in the water at the west end of Campground Road at Bacon Creek. Two individuals, a female and a child, were trapped inside.

“As we understood, they (dispatch) had telephone contact with them (in the car),” Amos said. “We were paged, and one of our firefighters was on the scene in under five minutes. He actually was there and was giving us directions by telephone of what he saw, and what he had seen was a car in the water, approximately a couple hundred feet out, still floating, with headlights on.”

“Within a few minutes, dispatch notified us that they had lost cell phone contact with the caller,” Amos continued. “I found out later, by the unit that was on scene, at approximately the same time that we were pulling up, dispatch notified that they had lost contact with the caller. My guys immediately started suiting up in life vests and helmets, and we tied one of my firefighters and one deputy sheriff off by rope, and they went in the water and made their way to the vehicle.”

Amos said that Hart County Search and Rescue were also responding to the scene at that time.

“About the time that our guys made it to the vehicle, the rescue squad was in the water with their boat going out to the car to meet our rescuers,” Amos said. “Almost immediately as soon as the boat got there, one of our guys had pulled the juvenile out of the water…The boat came directly back to the bank with the child.”

Lifesaving measures were attempted by paramedics to revive the juvenile, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

At that same time, rescuers were still attempting to reach the mother. However, due to rising water levels and the vehicle being partially submerged, as well as additional flash flood and thunderstorm warnings, heavy rain, and wind gusts, efforts were halted until Sunday.

On February 16, both Philpott and the vehicle were recovered from the flooded area.

Amos stated that the accident occurred in a very dark area along a country road where the water had risen quickly.

Agencies who responded to the scene included Hart County Search and Rescue, Bonnieville Volunteer Fire Department, Horse Cave Volunteer Fire Department, Linwood Volunteer Fire Department, Munfordville Volunteer Fire Department, Hart County Sheriff’s Department, Hart County Ambulance Service, Munfordville Police Department, Horse Cave Police Department, Hart County Emergency Management, Campbellsville Fire/Rescue Special Operations, Barren County Rescue, Hardin County Emergency Management, Kentucky Region 3 Emergency Management, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Department, and Kentucky State Police.