West Virginia, 1996

Heavy Rain in West Virginia, May 5, 1996

May 5, 1996 · NWS RLX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 3 year old boy fell into a backyard drainage ditch thathad been swollen by recent showery weather. The small boybecame lodged in a drainage pipe under the driveway.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
1
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 RLX wrote it up.

A 3 year old boy fell into a backyard drainage ditch thathad been swollen by recent showery weather. The small boybecame lodged in a drainage pipe under the driveway. About75 rescue workers, using shovels and picks, recovered theboy after an hour, but he was dead.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Mason

When
May 5, 6:00 PM EST
Where
Mason County, Point Pleasant
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates
38.770, -82.026 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Heavy Rain, Mason1996-05-053MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

What these are

Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in West Virginia in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, May 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5555091.