Debris Flow in Puerto Rico, January 21, 1997

Name: Debris Flow in Puerto Rico, January 21, 1997
Start: 1997-01-21T20:00
End: 1997-01-21T20:00
Location: Puerto Rico

January 21, 1997 · NWS SJU · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 debris flow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $5,000
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.

Event by event

1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.

Debris Flow, La Plato Dorado

When: January 21, 8:00 PM AST
Where: La Plato Dorado County, Naranjito Comerio
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $5,000

One person died Tuesday night and another lost his leg when a rock slid off a mountain and crashed into the pickup these persons were riving along highway 156 heading from Naranjito to Comerio in Puerto Rico. Although the area where this incident occurred was not affected by significant flooding, the terrain was saturated due to the rains. This area is along the interior mountaineous section, an area where landslides, mudslides or rockslides are very common during or after heavy rains.

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
Debris Flow, La Plato Dorado	1997-01-21	33	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

Debris Flow: A fast-moving slurry of mud, rock and debris, usually on a slope soaked by heavy rain or stripped by a fire.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Puerto Rico in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Puerto Rico, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5599313.