Flash Flood — Kanawha, West Virginia

2023-08-28 · near Hernshaw, Kanawha, West Virginia

Event narrative

Extensive flooding damage was observed in different neighborhoods within the Chelyan and Cedar Grove townships.

On the Cedar Grove side of the Kanawha River, many homes were surrounded by water as Kelleys Creek rose out of its banks. The NWS Storm Survey crew noted a few areas along Horsemill Hollow Road that were washed out as the creek curved in and around the roadway. Department of Highways crews were quickly attempting to put gravel on the road to ensure a way for citizens that live up along Horsemill Hollow Road to evacuate, otherwise they were trapped due to the obstruction of the road. A water rescue was conducted on William Street as parts of East Dupont Avenue also were inundated with water.

In Witcher Creek, main structural damage was noted to be storage sheds coming off of its foundation due to the intensity of the high water, some of which also entered into a trailer home along Witcher Creek Road. This house was deemed to have major damage as much of the items of the home were destroyed and being thrown out. A handful of cars were also lodged into Witcher Creek and were waiting to be removed as the Storm Survey team passed through the area.

Traveling up the road along Route 60, a few other trouble spots arose in between Chesapeake, Belle, and Dickinson. High water laid along the parking lot of Riverside High School, causing the school, and other local elementary schools that dealt with high water issues, to close for the day.

Another area that was hit hard by the heavy rain was on the other side of the Kanawha River in Chelyan. Slaughter Creek and Little Creek quickly rose out of their banks and resulted in major flooding along the local roadways, including Slaughter Creek Road, Little Creek Road, Cooper Hollow Road, and Fields Creek Road. This area of the county was where the most substantial flooding seemed to have occurred, with three local homes destroyed due to the high water levels.

In the area of Fields Creek, a trailer was ripped off of its foundation at the entrance of Fields Creek Road and looked to have been transported a few feet away when the creek was out of its banks. Several cars were submerged in the mud along Fields Creek Road and a few low lying homes observed major flooding in their basements and garages. Old Glory Road was also completely washed out.

Due to the close proximity of Little Creek Church to Little Creek, the damage was noted to be unsalvageable and would likely have to be demolished. The Chesapeake Volunteer Fire Department, located along Cooper Hollow Road and Old Glory Road, suffered substantial structural damage as a result of the creek rising out of its banks, most likely condemning the building along with losing the fire engine that was stored in the garage of the station. Local residents that live up Cooper Hollow Road were trapped for over 24 hours in their homes as a result of the road becoming washed out.

Outside of the three homes, fire station, and church being destroyed, 22 homes were deemed to have major flooding damage, and an additional 88 homes who observed minor flooding issues.

Wider weather episode

During the early morning hours of August 28th, a ribbon of heavy showers spawned just above the southern West Virginia coalfields and propagated northeastward into the central portions of the state. An inverted surface trough feature festered over the Central Appalachians and was the primary culprit behind this swath of slow moving and heavy rainfall. Precipitation amounts recorded by local weather stations were on the upward of 3 to 5 inches from Lincoln and Boone County all the way up to Braxton County. This brought upon an extensive amount of flood damage across the state as creeks and streams were quickly inundated with water, spilling onto local roads and into nearby homes. Previous rainfall from August 26th did not help matters, as the ground had little time to recover and could not support the quick inundation of rain on the morning of the 28th.

The hardest hit area from this event took place in eastern Kanawha County, where the Winifrede, Coal Grove, and Chelyan areas observed million dollars worth of flood damage. An NWS Storm Survey team went out to these areas the next day to see first hand the amount of damage caused by the flooding. In Kanawha County alone, 3 homes were deemed destroyed, along with a fire station and a local church. An additional 50 to 100 homes observed at least minor to major flooding due to the close proximity of the houses to the swollen creeks, including Slaughter Creek, Kelleys Creek, Little Creek, and Fields Creek. Several cars were swept up by the floodwaters and became submerged in the creeks, while many of the roads within the local communities were washed out and destroyed. At the time of the Storm Survey, crews from the West Virginia Department of Highways were diligently working to put down temporary gravel in order to allow trapped residents to be able to safely evacuate. A section of railroad tracks were washed out and destroyed in Winifrede near the destroyed volunteer fire station along Fields Creek. Numerous sheds and trailer homes were lifted off of their foundations and moved several feet by the fast moving water. Many of the creeks remained out of their banks into the afternoon and evening hours on the 28th, with the restoration process ongoing for days to weeks to come due to the severity of the damage.

In Calhoun County, flash flooding took place as a result of the headwaters of the Little Kanawha River. This yielded a handful of homes observing major flooding damage. The Little Kanawha remained out of its banks into the evening of August 28th, continuing to spill water onto portions of Route 16. Over in Clay County, a few trouble spots arose as several creeks rose out of their banks and caused high water issues along nearby roadways.

From a statewide perspective, around 40 private bridges were destroyed in West Virginia. Over 5 million dollars worth of damage was noted across the hardest hit areas.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.2119, -81.5779)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1127403. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.