Flood — St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

2008-10-15 to 2008-10-16 · near St Thomas, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

Event narrative

Savan Road on Saint Thomas, and the road in front of the Starfish market on Saint John experienced heavy flooding. Heavy downpours in the Fort Millner area caused rising water at the intersection of Brookman Road, with some water reaching 18 inches deep. On the Weymouth Ryymer Highway in the eastbound lane there were areas of water over a foot deep.

Wider weather episode

During the evening hours of Wednesday, October 15, 2008, the U.S. Virgin Islands were strongly affected by Hurricane Omar as it propagated northeastward through the Caribbean Sea. As Hurricane Omar moved through the region, high winds, torrential rainfall, and pounding surf all affected the islands. Localized flooding was observed across some low-lying areas and wind damage occurred across parts of St. Croix, nearest to the center of circulation. Additionally, antecedent rains, prior to the passage of the hurricane, caused many low-lying roads to be submerged, which further exacerbated the flooding conditions. In constructing a time line of the event, tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches were first issued for the USVI on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 5:00 PM LST at the time when Omar became a tropical storm. By 11:00 PM LST that same evening, Omar strengthened to hurricane status, and thus, hurricane warnings replaced the tropical storm warnings at that time. It wasn't until Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 5:00 AM LST that all warnings were dropped for all of the USVI.

Hurricane Omar's winds were estimated at 115 mph (with higher gusts) at the time of passage near the USVI. More specific wind measurements were as follows at select stations across the island of St. Croix:

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (TISX ASOS): 48 mph, gusting to 62 mph on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 11:43 PM AST

Limetree Bay (NOAA NOS): 53 mph, gusting to 72 mph on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 11:30 PM AST

In addition, several unofficial stations measured even higher winds (both sustained and gusts). The strongest effects of Hurricane Omar were first felt in St. Croix, as the storm moved from southwest to northeast across the northeastern Caribbean. The eye of Omar, or the center of circulation, passed within several miles from the island of St. Croix, placing the easternmost end of the island under the northwestern and western part of the eyewall for a few hours. Based on preliminary information from NOAA NOS Limetree Bay sensor, located on the central south side of the island, there was a period of 48 minutes, between 11:18 PM LST on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 through 12:06 AM LST on Thursday, October 16, 2008, where sustained winds greater than 49 mph were measured. Buoy 41140, located on the north side of St. Croix, reported 15-foot waves at the time of eyewall passage.

Rainfall also contributed to the damaging effects of the storm. 24-hour totals ending at 8:00 AM LST on Thursday, October 16, 2008 around the area include the following:

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (TISX ASOS): 5.30'.

Montpellier COOP Station: 7.00'.

Cotton Valley USDA RAWS: 3.44'.

Hurricane Omar sunk or washed ashore around 47 boats, about 33 of those were in Christiansted Harbor, and 11 in the water near the Saint Croix Yatch Club. Saint Croix suffered significant road damage, landslides and vegetative debris. Many power transformers and power lines were taken down by downed trees and branches. The south shore road had power poles bent over the road, and along the east end power poles were knocked flat along the road side. Farmers reported heavy crop damage to fruit trees such as coconut, avocado, breadfruit and citrus. A preliminary amount of 5.3 million was estimated for public sector on Saint Croix.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (18.3572, -64.9546)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 139383. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.