Flash Flood in Alabama, March 8, 1998

Name: Flash Flood in Alabama, March 8, 1998
Start: 1998-03-08T10:30
End: 1998-03-08T18:00
Location: Alabama

March 8, 1998 · NWS TAE · 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: 4
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $105 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.

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, Coffee

When: March 8, 10:30 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Coffee County, Elba
Deaths: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $105 million
Coordinates: 31.403, -85.988 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A vigorous Gulf storm dumped up to 14 inches of rain across the northern half of Coffee County. The earthen levee on the Beaver Dam Creek breached. A six foot wall of water rushed into the city of Elba. Two thousand residents were forced to evacuate. Nearly 400 homes and businesses sustained flood damage. Approximately 52 county roads were washed out or flooded. The Pea River at Elba crested near 39.3 feet on March 9. Four people were killed when their vehicles were swept away by floodwaters. Coffee County was declared a federal disaster area.

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, Coffee	1998-03-08	59	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
Flash Flood, Coffee	1998-03-08	4	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
Flash Flood, Coffee	1998-03-08	5	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
Flash Flood, Coffee	1998-03-08	17	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

Every storm in Alabama in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, March 1998

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: 5632268.