Puerto Rico, 1998

Flash Flooding in Puerto Rico, January 6, 1998

January 6, 1998 · NWS SJU · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy rains associated with a cold front produced widespread flooding across the central and east sections of Puerto Rico. The areas most affected were near Juncos and Yabucoa where the Commonwealth Civil Defense and a local tv channel 11 reported three flooded houses in Juncos.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
None recorded
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SJU wrote it up.

Heavy rains associated with a cold front produced widespread flooding across the central and east sections of Puerto Rico. The areas most affected were near Juncos and Yabucoa where the Commonwealth Civil Defense and a local tv channel 11 reported three flooded houses in Juncos. Roads 928 and 30 between Caguas and Humacao were flooded, and a house collapsed in Yabucoa. In Caguas roads 172 and 1 were flooded and in Canovanas power lines were downed by a fallen tree.

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Humacao

When
January 6, 6:00 AM AST to 2:00 PM AST
Where
Humacao County, Juncos
Property damage
$30,000

Flash Flood, San Juan

When
January 6, 6:00 AM AST to 2:00 PM AST
Where
San Juan County, Caguas

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 Puerto Rico in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Puerto Rico, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5631836, 5631837.