Nearly 200,000 people in Virginia were under a flash flood warning on Friday as heavy rain moved through the region after flooding the Northeast the day before.
Why It Matters
Communities in southwestern Bedford County, northern Franklin County, eastern Roanoke County and the city of Roanoke, Virginia, faced elevated risks from flash flooding as the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Flash Flood Warning late Friday morning.
With higher-than-average rainfall rates forecast for the region and a history of damaging floods in the broader mid-Atlantic and Northeast this season, the warning underscored the threat to public safety, transportation infrastructure and property in a region that has recently seen intense weather patterns.
What To Know
The NWS office in Blacksburg, Virginia, issued the flash flood warning at 11:57 a.m. local time. The warning was slated to remain in effect until 6 p.m.
The affected area includes populated cities and towns such as Roanoke, Salem, Vinton and Boones Mill, as well as Stewartsville, Moneta and the northwest shore of Smith Mountain Lake. Streams and drainages vulnerable to surges include Back Creek, Blackwater River, Carter Mill Creek, Carvin Creek and Bunker Hill Creek. Officials said that flash flooding was ongoing or imminent in the designated zones.
Weather Radar
According to the official bulletin, Doppler radar indicated that thunderstorms were producing heavy rain, with between 1 and 2 inches having already fallen in some areas and an additional 2 inches possible in the warning period. Rainfall rates were expected to reach up to 3 inches in a single hour, creating conditions for rapid flooding…