Flash Flood — St. Croix, Virgin Islands

2010-11-10 · near St Croix, St. Croix, Virgin Islands

Event narrative

Frederiksted gut flooded and washed away several sections of Emancipation drive between Fort Fredericksted and Concordia road.

Wider weather episode

Trailing moisture associated with tropical storm Tomas produced some squally weather with gusty winds and periods of moderate to heavy rainfall across the Caribbean waters in association with the outer bands of Tomas. A generally unsettled pattern prevailed days after due to deep tropical moisture over the local islands feeding the storm. Destructive flooding occurred during early November, especially on the island of St. Croix. The monthly rainfall total for St. Croix was almost double the normal of 5.55 inches. This departure from normal was exceeded on one day in Frederiksted, St. Croix; November 10th where a spotter reported 7.04 inches of rain from 0630 ' 1300 L. This high intensity tropical rainfall resulted in serious to catastrophic flash flooding across the island. This led to the third presidential disaster declaration for the Virgin Islands. The flash floods damaged roadways, buildings and vehicles and killed a woman who was swept away in floodwaters in La Grange. Estimates from preliminary damage assessments conducted on St. Croix were around $1.4 million.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (17.7109, -64.8677)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 268882. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.