Flash Flooding and Flooding in New York, July 8 to 10, 1998

Localized thunderstorms early in the morning of the 8th dropped three to five inches of rain across parts of Erie, Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties. Over five inches fell in just a few hours over much of Wyoming county. This resulted in rare, widespread devastating flash flooding. Many small streams and creeks became raging torrents and the upper reaches of the Tonawanda Creek rose drastically--faster than at any time in at least 30 years according to locals--and flooded out much of the Village of Attica. Two deaths resulted from the flooding. A 28 year-old female and a 17 year-old male drowned while attempting to rescue animals from the basement of an animal clinic. More thunderstorms during the afternoon aggravated the flooding on the Tonawanda creek which rose well above flood stage downstream to Batavia the following day. The crest dissipated further downstream with limited flooding reported near Newstead. Cayuga creek at Lancaster rose above flood stage for several hours on the 8th. Oatka creek in Garbutt, rose above flood stage the afternoon of the 9th and remained so through the afternoon of the 10th. A State of Emergency was declared for all of Wyoming County. Nearly 400 buildings were damaged in Wyoming county and damage to crop land was severe. The extensive flooding closed numerous roads throughout the multi-county area. Several were completely washed out. Specific road closures included: Rte.78 in Depew, Rte.98 in Arcade, Four Rod and Old Three Rod Roads in Alden, Rte.63 in Dansville, and Rte.20 in Darien. In Attica alone, nearly one hundred homes and businesses were evacuated. Evacuations also occurred in Sardinia, Dansville, Warsaw and Alexander. In the aftermath, Wyoming, Genesee, Livingston and Monroe counties were declared Federal Disaster Areas.