Heavy rains over the past several days have caused the Cumberland River to rise and the streams have led to washouts throughout the county.

Harlan County Emergency Management Director Everett Jones said the county has received approximately 2 inches of rain since the Friday.

"I checked the water gauge this morning at Baxter and the highest it has raised this weekend is approximately 5 feet," Jones said. "Flood stage for Harlan County is 16 feet. If the rain holds off, we should be OK. I will be checking the gauge often if the rain continues."

Jones said the county's ground is saturated from the recent snow and the rain.

"We are expecting more rain tonight (Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday), according to Jackson Weather Service," Jones said. "If we get all the rain that they say, then we may have some problems. We've had quite a bit of snow in the higher elevations, and with the rain melting it we're seeing a lot of runoff from that."

The Kentucky State Police have not had any reports of any major problems in the county from the recent rainfall as of Sunday.

The National Weather Service has placed Harlan County under a flood watch until noon today.

They have reported that the ground in most of eastern Kentucky remains wet and saturated from the recent rainfall. Another bout of rain is expected to begin after midnight and into this morning as a cold front pushes through.

According to the National Weather Service, the front will be displacing the mild and moist air mass which is in place, which could result in embedded thunderstorms. Several areas of eastern Kentucky are expected to see heavy rain showers.

The National Weather Service is expecting thunderstorms with heavy rain and a chance for snow shower activity in the afternoon, especially in the higher elevations.

A flood watch means that flooding of streams and other drainage areas are possible in the watch area.