Flash Flood — Brown, Texas

2002-07-06 to 2002-07-08 · near Countywide, Brown, Texas

Event narrative

Numerous showers and thunderstorms developed over Brown County just after midnight on the 6th. These thunderstorms remained nearly stationary through much of the night producing 12 to 14 inch rainfalls. This is in combination to the 6 to 8 inches of rain that had fallen in the days preceding the flood. The rain in Brown County fell directly into the catchments of the Jim Ned Creek, and Pecan Bayou, which empty into Lake Brownwood. Lake Brownwood crested on Sunday morning of the 7th, 7.7 feet over its spillway. Major flooding in Brownwood begins around 6 feet over the spillway. The flooded Pecan Bayou turned much of the Brownwood business district into a giant lake. Commerce Street in Brownwood was flooded with waist deep water. In Brownwood and Early, there were 54 homes with major damage, and 6 with minor damage. At Lake Brownwood there were 110 homes with major damage and 40 with minor damage.

Wider weather episode

The tropical wave that has been producing heavy rains over South Central Texas peaked in intensity during the early morning hours of the 6th over the Big Country and Heartland Counties of West Central Texas. Numerous thunderstorms developed shortly after midnight across northern sections of Coleman and Brown Counties. into southern Callhan County, then spread west into the Abilene area around 3 AM. Tropical rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour produced rainfall amounts of 10 to 14 inches directly over the Jim Ned Creek and Pecan Creek basins in northern Coleman and Brown Counties, and southern sections of Callahan and Taylor Counties. The Cities of Abilene and Brownwood received significant damage as the result of the flooding that followed the heavy rains.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5307033. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.