Heavy Rain — Harrison, West Virginia

2009-05-04 · near Sardis, Harrison, West Virginia

Event narrative

A 34 year old woman was killed, when a 70 foot tall tree fell up a slight hill and smashed through the middle of her mobile home. She was sitting inside watching television. The freak accident occurred as the heavier rains were diminishing. The ground was saturated with some soil erosion around the tree. The wind was blowing at about 10 to 20 mph. Her husband and 2 children were also inside. Her 6 year old daughter was slightly injured with abrasions on her leg.

Emergency responders were slowed by water over the roads from small streams. A fire truck became stuck in the water and had to be removed by a large tow truck.

Wider weather episode

A front was stretched out east to west near the southern border of West Virginia. A strong mid level disturbance lifted northeast and enhanced the rain after 0100E on Monday the 4th before lifting out around noon. The axis of the heaviest rain fell from southern Wayne County on northeast, through western Kanawaha County, southern Roane County, southern Calhoun County, then through Gilmer, Lewis, and Harrison Counties. The rain totals in this maximum were mostly 2 to 2.9 inches in a 6 to 12 hour period.

Leading up to this episode, the ground was saturated from light but frequent rain. The spring foliage was just in its beginning stages, and not consuming a lot of soil moisture. As a result, the rain quickly became runoff.

Nuiisance flooding was common, with water ponding on roads in poor drainage areas. More serious stream flooding occurred along the West Fork of the Little Kanawha River in Calhoun County. Schools were canceled in a few counties.

River flooding resulted along the Little Kanawha River downstream of Burnsville through Glenville to Grantsville. The West Fork River also flooded as it flowed north through Harrison County.

In June, some of these counties were added to FEMA disaster 1838. Around 3 dozen home owners applied for assistance.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.3300, -80.4200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 162643. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.