Flash Flood — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2010-07-13 · near Tacony, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Thunderstorms with torrential downpours caused flash flooding along the Pennypack Creek as well as poor drainage flooding in northeast Philadelphia. A 20-year-old man drowned while rafting on the swollen Pennypack Creek. During the morning, fire officials rescued a man stuck next to the pillar of a rail bridge near the intersection of Ashburner Street and Frankford Avenue on the creek. Later that day, two men fell into the water after their raft overturned near Winchester Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, but only one man survived. The Pennypack Creek at the Rhawn Street Bridge was above its 7 foot flood stage from 1018 a.m. EDT through 617 p.m. EDT EDT on the 13th. It crested at 9.1 feet at 4 p.m. EDT.

Wider weather episode

A series of thunderstorms during the morning of the 13th caused flooding in parts of southeastern Pennsylvania including Philadelphia. Doppler Radar storm total estimates reached 3 to 4 inches.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.0337, -75.0274)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 253313. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.