Flash Flood — Lackawanna, Pennsylvania

2023-09-09 · near Chinchilla, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

A man and woman succumbed to flash flooding as they attempted to evacuate their vehicle while stuck in the railroad overpass crossing Shady Lane. Flood waters rapidly filled their vehicle and the woman was swept downstream. The man was also swept away and sustained grave injuries after being slammed into a sign post and guardrail. He died a few days later. Severe flooding also stranded several other vehicles in this immediate area.

Wider weather episode

A stationary frontal system over northeastern Pennsylvania combined with a weak upper level disturbance to focus heavy rain producing thunderstorms over the area. Torrential downpours over just a couple of hours accumulated between 3 to 5 inches of rainfall in small stream basins above the large metropolitan area known as the Lackawanna-Wyoming Valley. Severe flash flooding resulted in many road and bridge washouts around the local region. Motorists were stranded on urban streets and the flooding resulted in the deaths of two people who attempted to evacuate their vehicle into rushing waters. Another four people were seriously injured when their vehicle crashed into the remnants of a washed out bridge. The perpetual thunderstorms and flooding also shut down the Luzerne County Fair. Overall damages to the region as a result of this severe flooding are estimated at around 20 million dollars.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.4781, -75.6831)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1140880. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.