Flash Flood — Erie, Pennsylvania

2004-09-09 · near Countywide, Erie, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

Heavy rains associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Frances persisted during the early morning hours of September 9th. The rain eventually ended around daybreak. Storm total rainfall amounts from early on the 8th through the 9th generally ranged from 3 to 6 inches in Erie County. Some totals included: 3.5 inches at North East; 3.59 inches at Erie International Airport; 4.32 inches at Union City; 4.75 inches at Corry; 5.0 inches on the east side of Erie; 5.4 inches at Cranesville; 6.5 inches at Edinboro and 7.44 inches at Franklin Center. Runoff from this rain caused extensive flash flooding in Erie County during the morning hours of the 9th. Evacuations began in the Edinboro and McKean areas around 2:30 a.m. The flooding in Edinboro was particularly severe. Water overflowed a dam on Edinboro Lake in the city. Hundreds of residents downstream of the dam, including students at Edinboro University, were evacuated because of the possibility of a dam failure. Cottages just south of the dam were reported to be completely submerged. A bridge just south of the city on State Route 99 was washed out. A second bridge was destroyed north of Edinboro in Washington Township. A landslide wiped out around 500 feet of State Route 5 in Fairview Township between 3 and 4 a.m. Cars and buildings along State Route 5 were damaged by the debris. Elk Creek went into flood around the same time in Fairview forcing several dozen people to be evacuated along State Route 98. In Mill Creek Township, residents were evacuated from two mobile home parks that had flood waters up to three feet deep. Significant flooding was also reported in the Albion and Corry areas. Four vehicles were stranded in flood waters up to four feet deep east of Erie along Interstate 90. A total of 20 roads were either washed out or damaged in the county. Hundreds of homes in the county were damaged by the flooding. Several of these were damaged enough to be declared destroyed.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5423415. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.