Flash Flood — Trumbull, Ohio

2019-07-20 · near Kinsman, Trumbull, Ohio

Event narrative

Kinsman Lake in northern Trumbull County saw an estimated 5 to 6 inches of rainfall during the early morning hours of the 20th. A Flash Flood Warning was issued at 741 AM on the morning of the 20th due to an increase in rainfall rates peaking between 7 and 715 am around 4 inches per hour. The nine acre lake was overwhelmed by runoff and the earthen dam on the south side of the lake was overtopped by 2 to 4 feet of water as estimated by Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The dam eroded and broke around 811 AM. Immediately downstream of the dam the basement wall of home collapsed, and agricultural fields sustained significant erosion. In all the washed out bridge left 55 people in 21 homes cut off as a result of this failure. The flood waters continued down Stratton Creek into Pymatuning Creek and eventually into the Shenango River Lake in PA. No impacts were reported once the flood waters reached the Pymatuning Creek.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moved down from the upper Great Lakes region and produced a broken line of strong to severe thunderstorms. These storms produced several reports of wind damage across northeast Ohio. A backbuilding storm complex over northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania late in the evening and early morning hours of the 20th. Torrential rainfall produced 1 to 4 inches of rainfall across Ashtabula, Trumbull, Erie, and Crawford Counties. At least two homes sustained substantial damage from rushing flood waters, two bridges were washed out, and too many roads to count were closed and damaged in the floods. A state of emergency was declared for Trumbull County as a result of the flooding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.4301, -80.5814)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 846873. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.