Flash Flood — Crawford, Pennsylvania

2004-09-08 to 2004-09-09 · near Countywide, Crawford, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Heavy rains associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Frances caused extensive flooding in Crawford County. Light rain associated with this storm began falling early on September 8th. Rainfall rates increased during the evening hours as the low approached Northwest Pennsylvania. Rainfall totals through midnight on the 9th were as high as 4 to 5 inches, especially in southern Crawford County. The heavy rain continued through early morning hours and finally ended around daybreak after another two to four inches of rain had fallen. Storm total rainfall amounts included: around 4.0 inches at Conneaut Lake; 4.20 inches at Titusville; 5.07 inches at the Meadville Airport; 5.57 inches at Saegertown, 6.0 inches at Meadville; 7.8 inches at Springboro and 10.0 inches at Cambridge Springs. This rain caused rapid rises in area streams and creeks. Evacuations in the county began just after 11 p.m. after Crooked Creek left it's banks near Adamsville and Hartstown. The flooding worsened during the early morning hours with many road washouts and evacuations reported. Around 3 a.m., two dozen residents were evacuated from homes along Conneaut Creek in Conneautville with some of the people rescued from second floor windows. Around 30 homes (most along West Street) in this area were heavily damaged by the flooding. Nearby, seven people had to be rescued from their vehicle after flood waters washed if off the road. Church Run, Sugar Creek and Oil Creek left their banks in the southeast corner of the county damaging many homes and washing out several roads. Several people had to be rescued from homes along Shenango Creek in South Shenango Township around 4 a.m. In Meadville, French Creek rapidly rose during the early morning hours. Many people had to be evacuated from homes in the city's Fifth Ward. North of Meadville, flooding along Cussewago Creek washed out a road causing a car to leave the road. The driver was later rescued. Evacuations and extensive flood damage were also reported in the Cambridge Springs, Linesville and Springboro areas. Over 1,200 homes in Crawford County were damaged by flooding caused by Frances. At least several dozen of these were either destroyed or heavily damaged. Damage to roads in the county topped $2 million. See the flood description for September 9th through the 11th for information on the subsequent flooding along French Creek in Meadville.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5423343. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.