Flash Flood — Crawford, Pennsylvania

2004-05-21 · near Countywide, Crawford, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Thunderstorms dumped heavy rains on Crawford County during the predawn hours of May 21st. This rainfall combined with ground already saturated from heavy rains the previous few days led to widespread flooding across the county. The central portion of the county, including the Meadville area was very hard hit. Rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches were reported with 1.41 inches measured at the Meadville Airport through 7 a.m. Cooperative observers measured 2.03 inches of rain in Titusville and 1.80 inches in Springboro. Area streams and creeks quickly rose overnight causing several roads to become flooded. A tributary of French Creek quickly went into flood around 5 a.m. after a culvert became clogged with debris. The resulting flooding caused $2 million in damages to a hospital which had it's ground floor flooded. A nearby hotel was also heavily damaged. Four homes in the same area sustained major damage with a dozen or so more buildings nearby sustaining minor flood damage. Hundreds of additional homes in the county experienced basement flooding. Dozens of roads were either washed out or closed by flooding. Most of these were in the Meadville and Cochranton areas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5399572. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.