This afternoon, I began hearing thunder—which was understandable given the Severe Prediction Center’s forecast for today. I watch some storms that were to my east develop, but remain in place for about an hour. Within another hour, the storm developed further to provide us with a shower.
After it had passed, roughly around 1700, the rain totaled an inch and the area near us was flooded.
In front of our house is a storm drain. Typically, it is dry—with a trace of water flowing.
The stream flows under the road and through the playground. The bridge walk way was completely underwater.
And the playground was surrounded by water.
This shows how fast a flood can rise.
The National Weather Service in Wakefield, VA issued an advisory at 354PM, which read:
“THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE FLOODED ROADS. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE EXTREME CAUTION WHILE COMMUTING HOME…OR TRAVELING ON INTERSTATE 95 BETWEEN COLONIAL HEIGHTS AND RICHMOND…THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE ELEVATED LEVELS ON SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS…AND PONDING OF WATER IN URBAN AREAS… HIGHWAYS…STREETS AND UNDERPASSES AS WELL AS OTHER POOR DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW LYING SPOTS.”
It took only an hour, on an otherwise sunny day to flood. The waters rose very quickly after one inch of rain. Always be alert when you hear these advisories—because the water does flood quickly and the second leading cause of weather related deaths in 2010 was because of flash flooding.
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Radar Image from Accuweather.com Premium.