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Flash Flood in Leake County, Mississippi
Flash Flood April 6, 2003 – April 7, 2003 · Leake County, Mississippi
Where the report was made, with tornadoes recorded within 15 miles over the years.
What the National Weather Service wrote
Several rounds of thunderstorms and continued heay rain dumped 7 to 12 inches of rain across the southern portion of Leake county. Numerous roads were flooded with a few bridges being washed out. Several homes and businesses were also flooded.
The wider storm
To put the entire event into perspective, areas just to the N of Interstate 20 and extending W to E across the entire state, experienced a 125 year rainfall event. Rainfall totals ranged from 7 to 12 inches which all fell in about 18 hours. Due to the large amounts of rain, river flooding quickly became a major problem. The Pelahatchie Creek experienced a 100 year flood. The Chunky River, at Chunky, set a new record. This river actually flooded a portion of Interstate 20 which had to be closed for a few hours. The Chickasawhay River at Enterprise also set a record. In addition to all the flash flooding, the river flooding caused major damage to homes and flooded numerous roads.
Began near South Portion (31.6500, -90.7667).
Other tornadoes from the same storm system
12 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5349737. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.
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