Ohio, 1997

Flash Flood in Ohio, March 2, 1997

March 2, 1997 · NWS ILN · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Persistent heavy rainfall caused area creeks and streams to rise out of their banks. Numerous roads were closed due to high water.

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
$1.5 million
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 ILN wrote it up.

Persistent heavy rainfall caused area creeks and streams to rise out of their banks. Numerous roads were closed due to high water. Breaks occurred in Crooked Creek's earthen levee destroying houses, cars, and several restaurants and businesses in Waverly. A total of 224 homes were flooded and 70 evacuations occurred. An elderly man drowned as Sunfish creek flooded his home. He had been advised to evacuate but decided to stay.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Pike

When
March 2, 4:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where
Pike County, Countywide
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$1.5 million
Coordinates
39.077, -83.067 (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
Flash Flood, Pike1997-03-0287MalePermanent HomeDirect

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 Ohio in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, March 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: 5597047.