Tropical Storm — Leon, Florida

2008-08-22 to 2008-08-25 · Leon, Florida

Event narrative

Rainfall from Fay varied from ten to 24 inches. Numerous trees and power lines were down throughout the county. Numerous state and county roads were closed by flood waters. There were a few road collapses, which included a portion of Capital Circle NE just south of Mahan Drive. The Timberlake subdivision east of Tallahassee was cut off by flood waters during the storm, which affected 230 homes. The total number of homes affected by flooding countywide was 450. Twenty homes were damaged and 14 were destroyed by fallen trees and flooding. Flooding was observed along the Ochlockonee River and Munson Slough. The crest at Havana was 33.71 feet, which was at major flood stage and 1.4 feet below the record flood stage.

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Fay came ashore along the northeast Florida coast on the 21st. Fay moved slowly westward across northern Florida, producing widespread heavy rainfall and strong winds. On the 22nd, Fay began to approach the waters of Apalachee Bay. Fay emerged into Apalachee Bay late on the 22nd, and made its fourth Florida landfall on the 23rd near Carrabelle. By that morning, Fay had tapped into Gulf of Mexico moisture. Intense rainbands developed and trained over the same locations in the Florida Big Bend for several hours on the 23rd producing rainfall totals exceeding 20 inches in some locations. This resulted in record flooding on area rivers and flooding in Tallahassee and surrounding cities that has not been seen in many years. By the 24th, Fay had weakened to a depression and continued moving westward into southeastern Mississippi. Besides the torrential rainfall associated with Fay, sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph downed many trees and power lines. Numerous homes were damaged by fallen trees as well as the tropical storm-force wind gusts. A tornado briefly touced down in a wooded area of Jefferson County on the 23rd. A Talquin Electric linesman was electrocuted while working to restore power in Quincy when a tree fell across a nearby power line. A Jefferson County man lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a flooded wooded area and drowned. A man was killed during a heavy rain storm in Bay County when he lost control of his vehicle and collided with a large pine tree. A state of emergency was declared by the Governor for all but Walton County. Individual assistance was granted for Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor and Wakulla counties. Many county schools were closed on the 22nd and 25th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 133252. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.