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Heavy Rain — Cabell, West Virginia
July 9, 1997 · NOAA Storm Events record
Event narrative (NOAA)
A 12 year old boy was sucked into a 14 inch diameter drain pipe and drowned. He was playing in a neighbor's yard with 2 other boys, after a heavy downpour. The pipe was normally covered, but had been left opened during the construction of a nearby home. Apparently. the 5 foot 4 inch, 110 pound boy slipped and fell into the ditch. Firefighters recovered the boy's body about 2 hours later, some 60 feet into the pipe. The Cabell County Sheriff said, " I've seen a lot of things, but this was the toughest".
Other notable heavy rain events in West Virginia
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.