Flash Flood — Tioga, New York

2000-05-10 to 2000-05-11 · near Countywide, Tioga, New York

Event narrative

Numerous roads and highways were closed due to damage caused by flooding and washouts. Several storms trained over Tioga county, New York and produced rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches in a period of 3 to 6 hours. The rain fell on waterlogged ground since April was a wet month (3rd wettest all time at NWS Binghamton). As the runoff fed into local drainage channels, small creeks which feed into the east branch of the Owego Creek began to rise rapidly. Several of these creeks left their banks and flowed freely across roads, leaving them littered with debris especially in Newark Valley, Candor, Nichols, Tioga Center, and Owego. One of the more significant events occurred along Bridge Street, Silk Street, and Barber Road in Newark Valley where small creeks feeding into the east branch of the Owego Creek left their banks and caused extensive erosion of the shoulders of the road as well as to local property. A bridge on Bridge Street was washed out. Some basements were flooded and a tank for home heating oil became dislodged. The stream bed itself also suffered major erosion. One local resident commented that while the area has been known to experience minor flooding in the past, this event was far and away the most damaging in recent memory, surpassing even the devastating snowmelt flood of 1/19-20/96.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5146194. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.