Flash Flood — Aibonito, Puerto Rico

2009-12-25 · near Aibonito, Aibonito, Puerto Rico

Event narrative

Heavy rains that began on Christmas evening persisted through early Christmas Day. Around 250 families were affected by the rains and floods. The worst hit area was the Aibonito town and the San Luis sector. Many homes close to the river and the town were flooded, as well as Barrios La Plata, Pasto, and Cuyon. Flood water levels rose to around 3 feet in some of the properties. USGS river gauge at Rio de la Plata at Proyecto La Plata rose above flood stage to 18.77 feet. Twenty seven persons were rescued from the flash floods.

Wider weather episode

December 24th and December 25th stood out because they were the wettest days of the month which in turn evolved into the most hydrologically active period across the region. By the evening of December 24th, a Flood Watch was issued for most of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as heavy rain began to envelope the area due to shower and thunderstorm development from the interaction of local effects and a low pressure center northeast of Hispaniola that was slowly drifting east northeast across the forecast area. Maximum rainfall reports from this event ranged from 5 to 9 inches. The two highest reports in Puerto Rico were 7.13 inches in San Lorenzo and 9.0 inches in Aibonito. The runoff from this rainfall resulted in flash flooding in Aibonito, Fajardo, Las Piedras and Naguabo. Rapid and significant rises were also noted on the Rio Fajardo, Rio Naguabo, Rio Gurabo, Rio de La Plata and the Rio Grande de Loiza and many of its tributaries.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (18.1051, -66.3423)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 209070. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.