Flash Flood — Wilkinson, Mississippi

2016-08-12 to 2016-08-13 · near Doloroso, Wilkinson, Mississippi

Event narrative

Widespread rainfall of 10 to 15 inches led to widespread flash flooding across the eastern half of Wilkinson County. The Buffalo River near Woodville crested at a record level during the flash flood. Two homes were destroyed, 23 suffered major damage and an additional 58 homes suffered minor damage. There were also 23 public roads and 10 bridges damaged by the flooding. The worst damage was in the town of Crosby where nearly every building was damaged.

Wider weather episode

A slow moving low pressure system brought multiple rounds of widespread showers and thunderstorms to the area. The system tapped into deep tropical moisture resulting in very intense rainfall across a large portion of the area. Two-day rainfall totals were in excess of 20 inches in some areas, topping the 0.1% annual exceedance probability. The heavy rainfall led to widespread flash flooding and record river flooding. The event was also responsible for an estimated total of ten billion dollars in damage across southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. This estimate includes impacts of both the initial flash flooding and the resultant river flooding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.3230, -91.3850)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 655992. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.