Flash Flood — Cabell, West Virginia

2016-07-14 · near Hodges, Cabell, West Virginia

Event narrative

Water rose rapidly on several local streams and creeks resulting in roadway blockages and homes surrounded. The hardest hit area was along Green Valley Road where 50 homes sustained damage from high water. The public witnessed a car drive rapidly into flooded waters along Green Valley Road. After assisting the driver and one passenger out of the vehicle, they called 911. Rescuers were unable to get the second passenger out, before the vehicle floated away. A 56 year old woman drowned in the vehicle.

Additional flooding occurred along Fourpole creek in Huntington from runoff to the south. This creek rose out of its banks and blocked Enslow Blvd, plus several local connecting streets. Water surrounded around a dozen homes along Enslow Blvd and flooded sections of Ritter Park.

Wider weather episode

Convection formed in the heat of the day, with highs around 90 degrees and dew points around 70. There was also an east-to-west boundary in the vicinity, likely from convective activity the previous night or earlier in the day. Initially, the convection grew rapidly along a line from northeast Kentucky into West Virginia, with several bowing segments developing. However, with very weak shear, the storms were fairly short lived. Regardless, the storms did cause some local tree and property damage. Multiple outflow boundaries formed from this initial convection. This lead to training storms and flash flooding across the I-64 corridor between Huntington and Charleston.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.3778, -82.4287)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 636005. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.