Flash Flood — Northeast, Puerto Rico

2008-09-01 · near Naguabo, Northeast, Puerto Rico

Event narrative

A flash flood overtook a group of four hikers as they were walking along the banks of River Prieto-River Blanco along the south slope of the Caribbean National Forest El Yunque in the municipality of Naguabo. Two of the hikers were able to escape the flash flood, the other two were washed by the water surge. Showers affected the rain forest during the early afternoon causing rainfall amounts of around 1.5 inches.

Wider weather episode

The extreme outer bands of Tropical Storm Hanna impacted Puerto Rio during the first week of September. Hanna's circulation induced a low level flow of south to southwest winds that pushed showers and thunderstorms from the Caribbean waters northward into the island. Rainfall amounts of 10-12 inches were recorded in some areas over a 24 hour period ending on Wednesday September 3. Many rivers were reported out of their banks, numerous landslides were reported. Flooded streets and closed roads, strong gusty winds and isolated tornadoes were also registered. People were put in shelters along the western municipality of Anasco due to flooding. Hanna's center, at its closest point to Puerto Rico on September 3, 2008, the day when the islands were most affected by the storm, was nearly 350 miles away to the west northwest.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (18.2621, -65.7848)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 125967. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.