Flash Flood — Sumter, Georgia

2020-03-04 · near Croxton Crossroads, Sumter, Georgia

Event narrative

The Emergency Manager reported numerous roads closed due to water over the roadway, including: Fish Road, Arch Helms, Thomas Mill Road, Lamar Road, Della Glass Road, Bone Road, Joe Stewart Road, Leslie-Lamar Road, GA 377 near R W Jones Road, Newt Bailey Road, Pecan Road and the dirt portion of Three Bridges Road. Radar estimates indicate that 5 to 6 inches of rain occurred over the area, falling on wet soils, causing flash flooding.

Wider weather episode

During the day on March 4, enhanced moisture over the state produced a swath of heavy rainfall over portions of south and central Georgia. An area of 3 to 6 inches of rain fell over an area stretching from Stewart County eastward to Toombs County. Isolated higher amounts of up to 8 inches, particularly over Stewart County. This heavy rainfall fell on already wet soils, exacerbating the impact. Numerous road closures occurred as a result of the flash flooding, and there was at least one report of a dam failure and a significant road washout. Additional reports of longer duration flooding carried into the early morning hours of March 5.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.9251, -84.3395)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 883364. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.