Debris Flow — Watauga, North Carolina

2018-05-30 · near Triplett, Watauga, North Carolina

Event narrative

Media accounts said that a debris flow, described as as a 'landslide' impacted the home around 230 PM EDT and the homeowner contacted the gas company at 430 PM to turn off liquid propane supply to the home. The account stated that around this time the owners attempted to remove gas fumes by ventilating the residence. The power to a back-up water heater at the home was turned on around 5:08 p.m., and at 5:11 p.m. an explosion was reported to the County 911 center.

Around aused a p house to collapse which triggered a gas explosion destroying the home in the Heavenly Mountain subdivision of Boone. Police said heavy rains caused a hillside to give way and slide into the home.

Wider weather episode

Heavy rainfall on the afternoon of May 30th caused a debris flow into a home that later contributed to a fatal gas explosion that killed two people. Rainfall of 1 to 1.5 inches in a few hours caused the debris flow but soils were saturated from an extremely wet month of May in the area. Several rainfall stations in Watauga County had 15 to 20 inches of rain in May.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.1713, -81.5629)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 759312. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.