Flash Flood — Clarke, Alabama

2018-04-14 · near Tallahatta Spgs, Clarke, Alabama

Event narrative

Five to nine inches of rain fell in a short duration along and east and west of the Highway 43 corridor from Thomasville to southwest of Grove Hill. At the height of the flash flood event, Highway 43 near Bassett Creek was covered in 6 feet of water. Several other roads in this area were also submerged in several feet of water, including Butler Drive in Thomasville. Multiple vehicles were submerged across the area. Approximately 20 water rescues had to be made from houses and residences with rescues reported 5 miles southwest of Grove Hill up toward Fulton. 25 homes experienced significant flooding. The flash flooding also resulted in significant infrastructure damage to roads, water lines, and drainage. The Clarke County Emergency Management Director reported 9.2 inches of rainfall.

Wider weather episode

A deep upper level low moved into the lower Mississippi Valley and pushed a cold front into the southeast states. The front temporarily stalled over portions of southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama during the afternoon and evening of April 14th. This resulted in the training of thunderstorms, which resulted in flash flooding across portions of inland southwest Alabama. As the front began to move east that night, one severe weather event occurred in Mobile County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.9350, -87.7864)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 751820. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.