Flash Flood — Clay, West Virginia

2023-08-28 · near Floe, Clay, West Virginia

Event narrative

Nebo Walker Road observed high water issues along several spots as a result of Dawson Fork Creek and Stinson Creek rising out of its banks. Near the town of Big Otter, Murphy Fork also rose out of its banks and caused flooding along Clinic Road and Big Otter Road.

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 → (38.6492, -81.0356)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1127488. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.