Flash Flood — Harrison, West Virginia

2017-07-29 · near Margret, Harrison, West Virginia

Event narrative

Widespread flash flooding occured across Harrison County. Areas in and around Bridgeport and Shinnston were especially hard hit. Around Bridgeport multiple roads were closed, and several houses had water into the first floors. Also, many homes had water seepage into their basements. A total of 44 homes were damaged in Harrison County by the flooding, 14 of which sustained substantial damage. There was also flash flooding in Wallace, where Long Fork Creek and Little Tenmile Creek both came out of their banks, closing portions of Barnes Street. The WV Department of Highways reported 28 state and county routes were flooded in Harrison County.

Wider weather episode

A cold front, with a low pressure system moving along it, crossed the middle Ohio River Valley on the 28th. A mid level disturbance also crossed during the afternoon. In abnormally high atmospheric moisture showers and thunderstorms were very efficient rainfall producers with 1 to 2 inches falling in under 30 minutes in the strongest storms. The heaviest rain fell along and north of the US 50 corridor where 2 to 4 inches were measured from late on the 28th into early on the 29th. This resulted in serious flash flooding, leading to an emergency declaration by West Virginia Governor Jim Justice for multiple counties in northern West Virginia. The area also received a major disaster declaration by the federal government. See FEMA DR-4331 for additional information.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.4586, -80.4815)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 704987. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.