Flood in Tyler County, West Virginia

Middle Island Creek near Middlebourne exceeded bankfull on the night of April 11th. The creek continued to rise to a crest of around 24.1 feet on the afternoon of the 12th, then fell returned to its banks again that night. Major flooding occurred along routes 18 and 24 on either side of Middlebourne. 4H camp buildings, county fairgrounds, and the agricultural field near the gauge flooded while the creek was out of its banks.

Showers and thunderstorms developed on the afternoon of April 11th due to the combination of unseasonably warm temperatures and a passing disturbance. Storms crossed in from the Ohio River Valley during the early afternoon and continued an eastward progression into the evening. A swath of tree damage and power outages were observed from Mingo County to the eastern half of the West Virginia from damaging wind gusts. Storms pressed eastward late on the evening of April 11th.

In addition, numerous areas of flooding transpired that afternoon and evening in response to heavy downpours and training storms throughout the state. The Charleston airport set records for the wettest April as a result of observing 3.32 inches of rainfall on April 11th, breaking the old record of 1.83 inches set back in 1965.

High water issues along state roads were the main impacts from the flooding, some of which needed water rescues for cars that drove into these trouble spots. Excess water eventually drained into the Ohio River on the 12th and 13th of April, returning to its banks a few days later. One fatality occurred in Wood County on the 14th, when a motorist drove past high water signs and their vehicle became submerged.