Flash Flood — Galax (c), Virginia

2018-09-08 to 2018-09-09 · near Galax, Galax (c), Virginia

Event narrative

Flash flooding occurred in downtown Galax, with Main Street closed and several businesses badly flooded. Water was rapidly flowing through Blevins Building Supply store and was described as a 'river' running through it. Damage to the store and inventory was estimated to exceed $1 million. Eight cars were reported stalled out in the flood waters and a Carroll County squad car was totaled as a result. Evacuations were required from a nursing home facility and several other businesses suffered damage.

Wider weather episode

Convective coverage was more widespread on the afternoon of the 8th and into the early morning of the 9th in association with a slow-moving frontal boundary and very high moisture. The most notable storms occurred over Galax City and nearby parts of western Carroll County during the late evening hours. Radar estimated 4 to 6 inches fell in several hours across parts of Galax with more than 6 inches in the Pipers Gap area of western Carroll County. The top five gage reports ending 12z on the 9th included Pipers Gap IFLOWS (PPGV2) 5.57', Galax Water Plant COOP (GAAV2) 5.50', and Woodlawn IFLOWS (WDLV2) 5.12'. At the Pipers Gap gage, 2.44' fell in 1-hour during the most intense portion of the storms, roughly a 25-year (.04 AEP) recurrence interval.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.6469, -80.9418)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 778020. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.