Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 19, 1996

Nearly all of Pennsylvania experienced a flood of unusual magnitude beginning in the early morning of Friday January 19, 1996 with rapid flooding of headwater basins of western PA and ending as major flooding along the rivers of the state on the 20th through the 21st. Two major snowstorms set the stage for the great flood. The snow storm of January 7-8 had been termed the Blizzard of '96 and was followed by a second major storm on January 12-13. Overnight on the 18th and through the morning of the 19th, heavy rain fell atop snow that had been ripened exceptionally rapidly by high winds and warm temperatures. In many areas flooding was as bad as flooding from Hurricane Eloise of 1975, and in a few spots even worse than record floods of Agnes in 1972.In the hardest hit areas of central Pennsylvania, 14 deaths were directly attributed to the flooding. Estimates of damages from the combined flood and the prior weeks blizzard (that set the stage for the flood) totaled $700 million for the state. An estimated $760 million was also lost to commerce over the two weeks. PENNDOT further estimated damage to roads and bridges of $500 million. Flood damage figures included damage to more than 51,000 homes (7,731 with major damage or destroyed), 1,900 business, 1,426 roads and 78 parks. More than 200,000 people were evacuated at some time during the event.On of the hardest hit areas was along Lycoming Creek north of Williamsport in Lycoming County where 6 deaths were confirmed. Stream levels in Lycoming County exceeded record levels set during Agnes. In Elk county flood levels on the Clarion River also exceeded levels from Agnes.Many locations had in excess of 2 inches of rain, with the hardest hit receiving 3 inches in less than 12 hours. Snowpack held water equivalents of 2 to 4 inches across much of the region from the severe January snowstorms, and much of the water was released during the period of heavy rain. Even major rivers and streams reacted quite rapidly, and ice jams caused significant problems in many areas.Many of the deaths were in stranded automobiles that people drove into floooded areas. A combination of strong winds, temperatures that fell into the teens and ice cold waters meant there was little time to rescue people caught in the flood.