Flash Flood — Rankin, Mississippi

2003-04-06 to 2003-04-07 · near Richland, Rankin, Mississippi

Event narrative

Several rounds of thunderstorms dumped 7 to 12 inches of rain over the northern half of Rankin county. This rainfall flooded numerous homes, businesses and roads.

Wider weather episode

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.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5351213. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.