Flash Flood in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Warm humid air over the region supported strong thunderstorms and torrential rainfall. A rain gauge network in Mill Creek Township measured an instantaneous rainfall rate of over 7 inches per hour around 630 pm. The storms produced a measured 3.85 inches of rainfall in the Erie/Mill Creek area. The intensity of the rainfall ultimately overwhelmed storm drainage systems causing significant overland flooding. In Mill Creek some roads were reported to have as much as five feet of water with numerous water rescues conducted. Some structures sustained damage and the Mill Creek Fire Department had to evacuate. The most significant damage occurred in on East 30th Street in Erie where a basement wall collapsed from the water pooling on the outside, trapping and ultimately drowning two residents. The flooding was likely exasperated by the poor drainage, but ultimately it was the torrential nature of the rainfall that caused the damages.

Thunderstorms dumped three to four inches of rain on Erie County during the evening hours. Officially 3.14 inches of rain fell at Erie International Airport. Numerous streams and creeks went into flood. Dozens of roads had to be closed because of flooding and water up to 5 feet deep was reported at several underpasses in the City of Erie. Several motorists and their cars were stranded in the high water and had to be rescued by firefighters. Temple Creek near Albion rose 6 feet in less than two hours and prompted the evacuation of 12 homes. Severe flooding also occurred in Mill Creek and Lawrence Park Townships where the foundations of several homes were washed out by flood waters.

The persistent line of lake-enhanced showers causing flooding in Erie increased in intensity westward toward Girard after 9am local daylight time, with two to four inches of rain falling in less than two hours. Earlier rains had fallen over the headwaters of Elk Creek, creating a high water crest that reached Fairview and Girard Townships just as the additional heavy rainfall struck. Several roads along Elk Creek were flooded, including North Creek Road near Girard, where water levels were the highest seen in over 20 years. In Fairview Township, floodwaters from Walnut Creek rendered US Highway 20 impassable, while Trout Run inundated areas along Maple Street just north of Main Street.