Flash Flood — Lake, Ohio

2006-07-28 · near Countywide, Lake, Ohio

Event narrative

After a brief lull, heavy thunderstorm rains resumed just after midnight and devastating flash flood quickly developed. As much as three inches of rain fell between 12:30 and 2:30 a.m. By daybreak on the 28th, as much of 10 inches of rain had fallen on portions of Lake County since the first thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours of the 27th. Rainfall totals included: 9.70 inches in Mentor; 7.95 inches in Concord; 6.89 inches in Kirtland; 6.30 inches just south of Painesville and 5.50 inches in Madison. Nearly every community in Lake County was hard hit by flooding. A 51 year old man disappeared around 2 a.m. while trying to move vehicles from flood waters at an Eastlake marina. He was later found deceased along a beach in Mentor. Thousands of homes were damaged and hundreds of people had to be evacuated. Widespread evacuations began in Painesville and Madison between 3 and 4 a.m. In Painesville, the Grand River rose from a stage of 2 feet on the morning of the 27th to 17.36 feet around 5 a.m. on the 28th establishing a new record stage. The old record stage was 13.1 feet set in 1979. Damage along the river was catastrophic and homes along Main Street, Millstone Drive, Gristmill Drive, Steele Avenue and Grand River Avenue were devastated. A total of 81 homes were destroyed on these streets with dozens more heavily damaged. Around 600 people had to evacuated from homes along the Grand River and approximately 25 people had to be rescued by boat from rooftops after flood waters climbed into the second floors of their homes. Several other people had to be rescued by helicopter because the flood waters were flowing too fast to allow boat rescues. In Madison Township, around 1200 people were evacuated from a mobile home park as flood waters began to encroach their neighborhhod. Dozens of homes and business in the area sustained damaged, much of it caused by flooding from the Grand River. State Route 84 was washed out by a creek near the Perry and Madison Township border. Up to 70 boats and large sections of piers were torn loose along the Grand River and washed into Lake Erie. Many of these boats were later deposited on beaches between Fairport Harbor and Madison. A floating restaurant near the mouth of the Grand River broke free during the flooding and sustained considerable damage. Homes along the mouth of the river in Fairport Harbor were littered with debris from damaged homes and businesses upstream. The Chagrin River in Eastlake rose from a stage around 4 feet on the morning of July 27th to 14.77 feet at 4:30 a.m on the 28th. Widespread damage was reported in both Eastlake and Willoughby from the resulting flooding. Significant damage was also reported in portions of Mentor, Kirtland and Concord Township. During this event emergency personnel conducted 41 separate resuce operations involving around 200 people. Around 3,600 families in Lake County applied for flood assistance. Approximately 100 homes were destroyed in the county with another 800 significantly damaged. Almost all of these homes were in Painesville, Eastlake, Madison, Fairport Harbor or Concord Township. Nearly 200 business were affected by flooding. Five bridges were destroyed by flooding and at least eight roads were washed out. Several bridges and many other roads were also damaged. Two sewer plants sustained significant damage. Damage to roads, bridges and other public infrastructure has been conservatively estimated to be around $15 million. Damage in Lake County during this event was unprecedented. The flooding has been tentatively classified as a 500 year event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5527308. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.