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Flash Flood — Raleigh, West Virginia
July 8, 2001 · NOAA Storm Events record
Event narrative (NOAA)
Areas along and west of the turnpike, which is Interstate 77, were hit the hardest. Rain amounts were less across eastern portions of the county. For example, the rain total in Beckley was 4.6 inches, but 2.6 inches at the Raleigh County Airport. Streams draining into the Clear Fork of the Big Coal River, plus into the Guyandotte River, saw severe flash flooding. This included such small communities as Leevale, Dorothy, Ameagle, Helen, and Rhodell. Preliminary damage assessment counted over 400 single family homes and mobile homes were destroyed. The lower reaches of Clear Fork at Leevale rose over 15 feet in the vertical, from a base stage near 13 feet to a record crest at 28.47 feet around 1400E. The previous maximum level was 20.8 feet on June 2, 1997. Local residents along t
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Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.