Flash Flood — Perry, Mississippi

2018-12-27 to 2018-12-28 · near Hintonville, Perry, Mississippi

Event narrative

Significant flash flooding occurred in the northeast part of Perry County, particularly in the town of Richton. In Richton, a dozen businesses were flooded. Water was knee deep in some businesses. At the height of the flash flooding, 15 people were rescued from a low lying apartment complex in Richton. In total for Perry County, over a dozen homes experienced major flood damage. Numerous roads were flooded and closed. One public road was destroyed by the flash flooding with 5 other roads experiencing major damage. Twelve other roads had minor flood damage.

Perry County EMA estimates damages of $300,000 to residences and business and $1.5 million in infrastructure damage.

Wider weather episode

Significant flash flooding unfolded across parts of southeast Mississippi (Perry, Greene, Wayne Counties) and southwest Alabama (Choctaw, Clarke Counties) where a swath of 10+ inches of rain fell in a short period of time. The highest rainfall totals occurred in the Clara community with one observer measuring 15.5 and another measuring 13.75 of rainfall during the event.

Numerous roads were closed or washed out across the aforementioned area due to the flash flooding. Floodwaters inundated numerous homes and business in Richton, Clara, Mulberry, and Sandhill communities in southeast Mississippi. Rapidly rising floodwaters also led to several water rescues.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.2877, -88.9880)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 798547. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.