Flash Flood, Manatee
- When
- September 27, 10:30 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Manatee County, Bradenton
- Property damage
- $300,000
- Coordinates
- 27.478, -82.357 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in Florida, September 27, 1997
Heavy rainfall of six to ten inches caused widespread flooding of roads, homes, businesses, rivers and streams from the Bradenton-Sarasota metropolitan areas south to the Port Charlotte-Punta Gorda and Ft. Myers-Cape Coral metropolitan areas.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $1.1 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
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 TBW wrote it up.
Heavy rainfall of six to ten inches caused widespread flooding of roads, homes, businesses, rivers and streams from the Bradenton-Sarasota metropolitan areas south to the Port Charlotte-Punta Gorda and Ft. Myers-Cape Coral metropolitan areas. Estimated flood damage was over one million dollars.Most of the flood damage was concentrated to homes that suffered water damage to rugs and vehicles stalled in water up to four feet deep across parts of West Central and Southwest Florida. A 36year old male drowned when the truck he drove hydroplaned, flipped over and slid into a flooded drainage canal along State Road 70, eleven miles east of Arcadia, in De Soto county at 2:55 pm est.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Charlotte
- When
- September 27, 10:30 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Charlotte County, Port Charlotte
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Coordinates
- 26.900, -81.950 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, De Soto
- When
- September 27, 10:30 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- De Soto County, Brownville
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Coordinates
- 27.186, -81.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Lee
- When
- September 27, 10:30 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Lee County, Cape Coral
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Coordinates
- 26.625, -81.849 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Sarasota
- When
- September 27, 10:30 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Sarasota County, Sarasota
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 27.183, -82.365 (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.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood, De Soto | 1997-09-27 | 36 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
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
More
Every storm in Florida in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, September 1997
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: 5622833, 5622834, 5622835, 5622836, 5622837.