Flash Flood, Columbus
- When
- August 2, 4:30 PM EST to 8:30 PM EST
- Where
- Columbus County, Brunswick
- Coordinates
- 34.265, -78.655 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 2, 1996
Rain began 4:30 PM EST, with 4 to 6 inches in two hours across Brunswick, New Hope, and South Whiteville, where flooding was worst. Rains caused flooding as far as 2 miles west and 4 miles north of Whiteville town limits.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS ILM wrote it up.
Rain began 4:30 PM EST, with 4 to 6 inches in two hours across Brunswick, New Hope, and South Whiteville, where flooding was worst. Rains caused flooding as far as 2 miles west and 4 miles north of Whiteville town limits. Several Brunswick families were evacuated, one moving vehicle was swamped dashboard-deep. Several minor accidents.
The radar
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 37 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:28 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 2, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
- Lightning Strike in North Dakota, August 2, 1996
- Hail in North Dakota, August 2, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, August 2, 1996
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, August 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5573341.