44
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$42.6M
Property damage
Flash Flood in Buchanan County, Virginia: 44 recorded events between 1996 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #723 nationally and #34 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flash Flood in Buchanan County, Virginia: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flash flood in Buchanan County is the 2020s, when 18 of the county's 44 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Buchanan County archive, flash flood makes up 22.4% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #723 for this hazard and #34 within Virginia, putting it in the 76.0 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for flash flood in Buchanan County with 14 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 2002 | NORTH PORTION | 0 | 2 | 0 | $25.0M |
| Aug 30, 2021 | KELSA | 0 | 1 | 0 | $2.5M |
| Jul 13, 2000 | HURLEY | 0 | 1 | 0 | $75K |
| Jul 13, 2022 | SLATE | 0 | 0 | 1 | $1.8M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 15, 2025 | PAW PAW | 0 | $500K |
| Feb 15, 2025 | KELSA | 0 | $5.0M |
| Feb 15, 2025 | HOME CREEK | 0 | $5.0M |
| Feb 7, 2025 | HURLEY | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 25, 2024 | ROTH | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 12, 2024 | PAW PAW | 0 | $500 |
| Apr 12, 2024 | BLACKEY | 0 | $500 |
| Sep 9, 2023 | PRATER | 0 | $2K |
| Aug 5, 2022 | SHORTT GAP | 0 | $250 |
| Jul 27, 2022 | JANEY | 0 | $200 |
Other hazards here
More from Buchanan County
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Rains of around 2 inches fell in less than 3 hours during the late morning and midday period, over saturated ground. An automatic gauge near Home Creek had recorded 6 inches of rain from the 10th to the 13th. Small streams flooded. A 28 year old female drowned in the Left Fork of Lester Fork. According to the investigator at the sheriff's office, she had walked across a foot bridge to turn horses loose from a barn. When she attempted to come back across the bridge, it was under water. She was tossed a rope, but lost her footing and fell in. Her body was found late that afternoon against a retaining wall at Hurley Park. Basement and garages were flooded along Looney Creek and Route 656. Shoulders of secondary roads received washout damage. Buchanan County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency in the aftermath of this high water.
Flash flooding began to impact multiple roads in the Hurley area by mid afternoon. Within the next couple of hours, rising waters submerged roads, impacted homes, and trapped residents in several locations. Floodwaters also rose halfway up the legacy bank building in Hurley. Impacted locations included Paw Paw Road, Rustic Road, McKracken Road, Guesses Fork Road, Hurley Road, Tree Top Road, Dan Branch Road, Lesters Fork Road, Race Fork Road, Cedar Branch Road, and Knox Creek Drive.
Flash flooding made numerous roads impassable, trapped residents, and impacted homes. By evening, catastrophic flooding occurred along Slate Creek Road and resulted in water rescues and evacuations. In addition to Slate Creek Road, the following roads were also impacted by flooding. White Oak Road, Grandview Road, Mercury Drive, Pheasant Run Road, Dandelion Road, and Stone Coal Road.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flash flood events are on record in Buchanan County, Virginia?
44 flash flood events are recorded in Buchanan County between 1996 and 2025, causing 4 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flash flood recorded in Buchanan County?
The strongest flash flood on record in Buchanan County measured 0.
Where does the flash flood data for Buchanan County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Flash Flood in Buchanan County, Virginia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/virginia/buchanan-county/flash-flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.