Texas, 1997

Flash Flood in Texas, October 7 to 8, 1997

October 7 to 8, 1997 · NWS MAF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
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.

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Pecos

When
October 7, 11:30 PM CST to October 8, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Pecos County, 3 mi SSW of Coyanosa
Property damage
$10,000
Coordinates
30.781, -102.724 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rains in the Coyanosa Draw watershed evolved into a raging torrent of water in the draw which flows north into the Pecos River. A man in an 18-wheel truck narrowly escape with his life when his truck was overturned by the flood waters. The truck was attempting to cross the running draw on a dirt road west of FM 1776 when the strong flow lifted and overturned the vehicle. The truck rested on its side in the flooding waters. The truck was carrying forklifts to an oil rig and was on the wrong road. Due to the rural nature of the area and late time the man was not noticed for quite some time.By the time rescue personnel arrived, they saw the man standing in knee-deep water, but then realized that he was standing on the side of his overturned cab. The flood waters were estimated at ten feet deep. The County Sheriff who rescued the man said that the flow was so wide that the rescue was very difficult, and the roar of the water was so loud that they could not communicate with the man verbally. By the time the man was rescued he had been trapped in the flood waters for 2 1/2 hours. EMS personnel said the man was in good health (just very cold), and he was not transported to the hospital.WSR-88D archive showed that most of the rain had fallen earlier and that when the accident happened the rain had been out of the area for over an hour. 88D rainfall estimates were as high as 7.1 inches upstream of the accident.

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 Texas in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, October 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: 5622719.