Flash Flood — Ottawa, Ohio

2009-05-27 · near Port Clinton, Ottawa, Ohio

Event narrative

Slow moving, training thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall in Port Clinton, flooding nearly every street in town. Basement flooding was common due to the high water in the streets. The hospital lobby experienced flooding starting around 2:33pm local time, with water one to two feet deep just outside the main entrance. The foundation of a bank building at East 2nd and Madison collapsed around 3:55pm. 3.75 inches of rain fell in one hour at the sewage treatment plant between 1:30pm and 2:30pm. Storm total rainfall of 5.1 inches was measured in Port Clinton, with 4.5 inches measured on Harbor Road just east of town.

Wider weather episode

A warm front lifted north across northern Ohio during the afternoon hours of May 27th. Showers and thunderstorms developed along this front. A few of the thunderstorms became severe and locally heavy rainfall was also reported. Flash flooding occurred in Ottawa and Sandusky Counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.4995, -82.9301)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 173997. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.