Flash Flood — Greenbrier, West Virginia

2016-06-23 · near Rainelle, Greenbrier, West Virginia

Event narrative

Unprecedented flash flooding occurred across large parts of Greenbrier County but especially in a swath across the central part of the county where an estimated 6 to 10 inches of rain fell in less than 12 hours. The first flood-related report was received at 100 PM EDT (1200 PM EST) as a portion of Highway 20 in western Greenbrier County became impassable south of Quinwood due to a mudslide and debris in the road. By 130 PM (1230 EST) there were several reports of flash flooding in the community of Rupert which required the evacuation of a nursing home and a vehicle rescue. Portions of Route 60 were closed between Rainelle and Rupert and severe flash flooding occurred along Big Clear Creek, a tributary of the Meadow River just north of Rupert. A number of homes of homes were badly damaged or destroyed along Big Clear Creek and several water rescues required in the Rupert area. The first flooding reports out of Rainelle in far western Greenbrier County were received at 155 PM (1255 EDT) and described people being trapped in cars and numerous water rescues. Several creeks emerge from the higher terrain surrounding Rainelle and converge in or near the town (Wolfpen Creek, Boggs Creek, Little Sewell Creek), the largest of which is Sewell Creek which then joins the Meadow River just northeast of town. The IFLOWS gage on the Meadow River near Hines (HNEW2) rose rapidly above its Flood Stage of 14 feet by 200 PM EDT and reached Major Flood Stage of 18 feet just two hours later, shortly before it ceased functioning at a stage of 18.8 feet while still rising. Flooding along the Meadow River was extensive with numerous homes and businesses affected. In addition, the rising Meadow River prevented Sewell Creek in Rainelle from discharging into the Meadow River which likely contributed to the rapidly rising water levels in Rainelle. Flooding was catastrophic in the town with water up to 8 feet deep or more and numerous homes flooded. There were four fatalities in Rainelle and three in Rupert, all due to asphyxiation (drowning).

Meanwhile, numerous flood reports continued to be received although the 911 center and Emergency Management were completely overwhelmed with calls. The Greenbrier County Sheriff described 'complete chaos' across the county in a media report as dozens of roads were closed, damaged or destroyed and many water rescues were made from cars and structures. Especially hard hit was the White Sulphur Springs area in the eastern part of the county. Several small streams also descend rapidly from higher surrounding terrain and converge in or near White Sulphur Springs including Dry Creek and Wades Creek which join Howard Creek in the town, which itself is a large tributary of the Greenbrier River. All were transformed into raging torrents which tore through parts of the town taking trees, cars and even homes downstream. One of the more horrifying images was of a burning home being carried downstream on Howard Creek before colliding with a bridge. This creek runs through portions of the famous Greenbrier Resort and images of the normally tranquil stream converted into a massive river covering portions of the golf course were widely shared on social and conventional media. Howard Creek flooded long stretches of U.S. Highway 60 downstream of White Sulphur Springs, causing severe damage all along the way to its confluence with the Greenbrier River at Caldwell, six miles downstream. Parts of Route 60 were essentially destroyed and probably dozens of cars were swept into the creek and deposited along the way. There were seven fatalities in and around the White Sulphur Springs area, all but one from drowning. One person's body was found some 30 miles downstream on the Greenbrier River from where she was believed to have been swept into a creek that feeds the river. The body of a teenage girl from White Sulphur Springs was not found for over 6 weeks, eventually winding up in the Caldwell area on the Greenbrier River. There was significant flooding all along the Greenbrier River with Caldwell, Ronceverte and Alderson the hardest hit as the river rose at near flash-flood rates and crested in the Major Flood category (see Episode for details). Numerous homes were flooded in the town of Alderson (Pop: 1184), according to the Mayor. A state of emergency was declared for a number of counties in West Virginia during and after the event and a Major Federal Disaster for over dozen counties was declared on June 25, 2016 by the President of the U.S. Fatalities in the county totaled 15 with an unknown number of injuries. There was over $5.5 million in public road/bridge damage in Greenbrier County and substantial damage to private roads and bridges. Preliminary data showed 319 homes destroyed and 353 damaged across the county, mostly in the Rainelle and White Sulphur Springs areas. In addition, 12 businesses were destroyed and 20 damaged along with numerous motor vehicles destroyed. Final damage totals for the event are not available from Emergency Management officials as of this writing but an estimate $40 million may not be unreasonable.

Wider weather episode

One of the worst flash floods in the history of West Virginia occurred on June 23, 2016 as extreme rainfall occurred across portions of Greenbrier and several adjacent counties. There were 15 fatalities in Greenbrier County and widespread catastrophic damage across much of the county. Summers and Monroe counties had much less severe flash flooding.

The two days prior to the event were quite wet as several rounds of thunderstorms traversed the area with rainfall of roughly 1 to 2 inches across much of Greenbrier County in the 48 hours ending at 0800 EDT on June 23rd. This left the ground quite moist and primed for more efficient runoff. The synoptic setup for this event featured an upper level ridge over the central U.S. northwest flow across the eastern U.S. Several strong short-waves topped the ridge and dropped southeast across the Ohio Valley toward the central Appalachians with the strongest wave approaching on the morning of the 23rd of June. Satellite imagery showed a deep tap of tropical moisture into West Virginia and a strengthening upper level jet providing additional lift. A warm front was located just north of the area and became a focus for convection in the early morning hours of the 23rd. Up to an inch of rain had fallen across Summers and Greenbrier by 730 AM EDT. Late in the morning, renewed convection from the west entered the area. During the late morning to early afternoon convection continued to train across the same general area of southeast WV and far western VA with hourly rainfall rates of 1.50 to 2. One of the more reliable automated rain gauges at White Sulphur Springs, WV (SUPW2) measured 2.32 and 1.89 in consecutive hours from 1 to 3 PM EDT or 4.21 in 2 hours. The 2-hour, 1000-year ARI at this location per NOAA Atlas 14 is 3.88' giving an indication of the intensity of the rain. Toward the end of this time window is when intense flash flooding began across eastern parts of the county but earlier in the far west. Flash Flood Warnings (FFWs) were issued throughout the morning and afternoon and a rare Flash Flood Warning Emergency product was issued for Greenbrier County by the NWS at 441 PM EDT as the extent of the disaster became apparent.

Radar and rain gauge measurements showed as much as 8 to 10 inches (perhaps higher locally) fell in a band across central Greenbrier County. The bulk of the rain fell in less than 12 hours between 600 AM and 600 PM. The top five official rain gauge totals (24-hour amounts ending at 8 AM EDT, June 24th) included White Sulphur Springs COOP (WSUW2) 8.29, Lewisburg 3N COOP (LWBW2) 8.00, White Sulphur Springs DCP (SUPW2) 7.83, McCross 3E COOP (MCRW2) 6.54 and Williamsburg VFD IFLOWS (WMBW2) 5.37. One personal weather station at Maxwelton measured 9.37 and there were several anecdotal reports of 10 or more inches. The 24-hour rainfall at White Sulphur Springs COOP, with fairly complete data back to around 1920 (and sporadic back to 1888) was more than double the all-time daily record (4.00' set in March, 1890). Lewisburg 3N COOP with data all the way back to around 1900 also demolished its all-time daily record of 4.06' set in July, 1954. A point event analysis by the Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center (HDSC) indicated that the rainfall was in the .001 Annual Exceedance Probability (1,000 year Annual Recurrence Interval, or ARI) for a 24-hour period.

The gauged hydrologic response was astounding as small creeks fed rivers that rose almost like a flash flood. An IFLOWS river gage at Ronceverte (RONW2) on the Greenbrier River rose to flood stage of 15 feet by around 730 PM EDT and climbed another 8.2 feet by 1130 PM. The NWS forecast point on Greenbrier River at Alderson (ALDW2) rose very slowly through the afternoon of the 23rd but around 700 PM EDT massive runoff began reaching the USGS gage location. The river rose from just over 4 feet (discharge of 2,300 cfs or cubic ft. per second) at 700 PM to reach flood stage of 14 feet (40,000 cfs) just 2.5 hours later around 930 PM. The river continued an astronomical rate of rise reaching Major Flood Stage (19 feet, 63,000 cfs) by midnight June 24th, before cresting at 22 feet (80,700 cfs) at 430 AM EDT. This was the 3rd highest crest on record (data back to 1895) at Alderson, surpassed only by the January 1996 rain/snowmelt flood and November 1985 flood. According to the latest available USGS report on flood frequency for West Virginia streams the discharge at the Alderson gage was very close to the 0.01 Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) or 100-year annual recurrence interval. A similar extreme response occurred on the Greenbrier River at the Hilldale USGS gage (HLLW2) downstream of Alderson just above the confluence with the New River. It also had its 3rd highest crest (25.45 feet, Flood Stage 16 ft) and discharge (82,508 cfs) on record (data back to 1936) and was also very close to the .01 AEP or 100-year event.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.9553, -80.7821)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 643304. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.