Flash Flooding in Alabama, September 28 to 29, 1998

Name: Flash Flooding in Alabama, September 28 to 29, 1998
Start: 1998-09-28T00:00
End: 1998-09-29T18:00
Location: Alabama

September 28 to 29, 1998 · NWS TAE · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $4.0 million
Crop damage: $15 million
Events: 2

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 Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:54 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Coffee

When: September 28, 12:00 AM EST to September 29, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Coffee County, Elba
Property damage: $2.5 million
Crop damage: $15 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.403, -85.988 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Torrential rains of 8 to 24 inches produced the worst flash flooding in Geneva County since Hurricane Opal in 1995. Numerous roads were damaged or washed out. AL 54 was closed from Samson west to Florala. All county roads were closed for fear of more flooding and washouts. Significaant losses were incurred to peanut and cotton crops. Several creeks overflowed their banks closing AL 65, 54, and 52.

Flash Flood, Geneva

When: September 28, 12:00 AM EST to September 29, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Geneva County, Samson
Property damage: $1.5 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.095, -85.839 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Torrential rains produced considerable flash flooding of city and residential streets.

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, September 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: 5667338, 5667339.