Flash Flood — Lorain, Ohio

2005-08-20 · near North Portion, Lorain, Ohio

Event narrative

Severe thunderstorms tracked over the northern portions of Lorain County during the afternoon hours of the 20th. By late afternoon, another band of thunderstorms developed and tracked over this same area. Heavy rain was associated with both rounds of thunderstorms. Streets, parking lots, fields and homes quickly flooded. Some roads were reported to have a foot and a half of water flowing down them causing cars to float. By the end of the event, some roads had around three feet of standing water on them. Small streams left their banks leaving the standing water in the streets and yards no place to flow. Hundreds of homes and apartment units suffered from flooding. Basements of homes quickly filled up with water and apartment buildings with either ground floor or sub-ground floor units experienced extensive flood damage. Water began receeding during the overnight hours of the 20th. North Ridgeville was hit hard with numerous reports of flooded homes and streets. By the end of this event, 5.80 inches of rain had fallen there. Elyria picked up 5.14 inches, and Grafton received 2.88 inches. In Avon, 4.5 inches of rain fell in around 90 minutes with a storm total of 3.27 inches in Vermilion.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.2833, -82.1167)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5472070. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.