Flash Flood — Lake, Ohio

2013-07-20 · near Madison North, Lake, Ohio

$7.0M

Property damage

Event narrative

During the early morning hours of the 20th, specifically between 230 am and 530 am, torrential rain fell over extreme northeast Cuyahoga County and most of Lake County. The showers were enhanced by the warm and moist air over Lake Erie, and subsequently produced rainfall rates that exceeded the storm drainage systems in any populated communities affected. Rainfall reports ranged from 3.44 in Madison to 6 inches in Fairport Harbor. In Kirtland, an observer measured 2.20 inches between 3 am and 5 am. The rain came after two previous weeks of wet weather which had raised the water table and saturated the ground. The rainfall produced flooding in over 500 basements with the majority being sanitary sewer backups. One basement's wall caved in causing structural damage to the house. Overall 13 properties in Mentor were classified as having suffered major structural damage. The most damage was reported in western Lake between Mentor and Wickliffe. In Kirtland Hills the Baldwin Road sustained structural damage from washout. In Concord 50 homes were flooded and were not due to sewer backups. In Cuyahoga County, Euclid was one of the highly affected areas, with more than 5 inches of rain falling in a short amount of time. That left some residents with anywhere from several inches to several feet of water in their homes. The wastewater treatment plant was under 20 feet of water and much of the equipment needed to be replaced. In all over 3,500 properties sustained some form of flood inundation.

Wider weather episode

Showers and thunderstorms developed along a stalled frontal boundary draped across Lake Erie and the upper Ohio Valley. Locally heavy rainfall was reported across northern Ohio with reports of up 6 inches in Lake County. A tornado touched down in eastern Cuyahoga County and caused some damage at a small college.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.8389, -81.0304)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 467976. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.