Water damage in Wilmore: river town, city water
Wilmore sits on the upland a few miles above the Kentucky River gorge at High Bridge. The town pumps its own drinking water out of that river, and in April 2025 the flood forced the city to shut its river pumps down for days. Here is what that means when water gets into a Wilmore house.
Referral service, not a contractor. Your request goes to an independent Lexington-area restoration company. We do not do the drying or repairs.
Who runs water and sewer in Wilmore
Wilmore is a small city with its own utility department. The city departments page lists Wilmore Utilities alongside Public Works and Distribution, and gives the City Hall office at 210 S. Lexington Avenue, with phone lines 859-858-4411 and 859-858-4412. The same page describes the utilities department's mission as protecting public health and safety; a utilities clerk handles billing.
The city's page does not list a separate after-hours utility number. If a main is broken in the street outside business hours and water is running toward houses, or anyone is in danger, call 911. For a leak that starts inside the house, the first step does not wait on anyone: close the main shutoff valve, then call the city about anything on its side of the meter.
When the river took the pumps offline
Wilmore's drinking water comes out of the Kentucky River. During the April 2025 flood, the city posted a water conservation notice saying historic river flooding had forced the Wilmore Water Treatment Plant to shut down its raw water pump station to protect the electrical equipment, and it asked every customer to cut back right away.
WKYT's report, carried by WAVE, quoted Mayor Harold Rainwater saying the town had about a four or five day supply once pumping stopped. The city's follow-up notice lifting the request says KU cut power to the river pump station on a Sunday evening, power came back Wednesday afternoon, and the pumps went back to refilling the reservoir.
The lesson for homeowners is practical. When the river is high, a burst pipe in Wilmore is not only your problem; every gallon running across a basement floor comes out of a limited reservoir. Know where your shutoff is before the next flood season.
What the flood looked like below town
Most of Wilmore is far above the river. The Kentucky Geological Survey's Jessamine County topography notes put the town at about 926 feet, the community of High Bridge at about 750 feet, and the river valley walls 400 feet or more above the water. The homes that flooded in 2025 were the ones down in the valley.
WKYT reported that crews from the Jessamine County Fire District, Nicholasville, Lexington and Wilmore took boats out at Dix Drive and rescued 24 people near High Bridge, along with 16 dogs, 8 cats and 6 birds.
Wilmore's fire chief told the station some families left with a suitcase and a pet and little else.
A FEMA advisory posted by Jessamine County listed the county among those eligible under disaster declaration DR-4864 for the storms that began April 2, 2025.
The same advisory says disaster assistance is not a substitute for insurance and cannot cover every loss.
When the river is forecast to rise, move valuables up, photograph every room before the water arrives, and know which policy you have.
Photograph the damage and keep receipts for anything you pay for while the house dries.
Karst ground around Wilmore
Jessamine County sits mostly in the Inner Bluegrass, and the KGS notes that karst features there are locally conspicuous without dominating the landscape. The county's karst page explains how water sinks through cracks in the limestone and comes out at springs, and warns that buildings in sinkholes are often vulnerable to flood damage. A few miles east, the KGS study of the Sinking Creek basin documented houses flooded by karst water in 1989; the Nicholasville page tells that story.
In a Wilmore house, karst usually shows up as groundwater. Long soaking rains raise the water under the yard, and older foundations let it in. That water ends up in crawlspaces more often than finished rooms, so the crawl space water page is worth a read if your floor sits over a dirt or gravel crawlspace.
Permits go through the joint planning office
Building permits for Wilmore go through a joint office. The Jessamine County – City of Wilmore Joint Planning Department handles planning, zoning and building inspection for the city and for unincorporated Jessamine County. Its office is at 121 South Main Street in Nicholasville, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a lunch closing, and it asks people to make an appointment before visiting.
Drying out a house usually needs no permit. Replacing drywall, electrical work after a flood, or moving a water heater may. Ask the planning office before the rebuild starts, not after the walls are closed.
Does a Wilmore water conservation notice stop a drying crew?
Extraction removes water rather than using it, and dehumidifiers do not need a water hookup. Cleaning and rinsing do use water, so during a city conservation notice, ask the company to keep cleaning water to what the job truly needs and to discharge pumped water outside rather than into a floor drain.
Reaching a restoration company from Wilmore
Wilmore is inside the Jessamine County part of this site's core area, so the same companies that work around Nicholasville are the ones most likely to cover it. Send the form with the 40390 ZIP and whether the water came from a pipe, the ground or a drain. When a participating company is taking work, it may call or text you back; if none is, you may not hear back and can contact any company you like.
Whichever company does the job, ask it to take moisture readings at the start and at the end, and to leave you a copy. Those readings show the house was dry before anything new went in, which matters for mold and for any claim. The drying and mold page explains the 24 to 48 hour window.