Flash Flood, Fayette
- When
- May 16, 4:45 PM CST to May 17, 12:00 AM CST
- Where
- Fayette County, Countywide
- Property damage
- $2.0 million
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 42.863, -91.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in Iowa, May 16 to 17, 1999
Rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches caused major flash flooding. Hardest hit were areas along the Turkey and Volga River where many roads and bridges were washed out.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $3.5 million
- 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 ARX wrote it up.
Rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches caused major flash flooding. Hardest hit were areas along the Turkey and Volga River where many roads and bridges were washed out. A cooperative weather observer in Fayette (Fayette County) had their reporting equipment washed away, while a 4 foot deep mudslide was reported by the Clayton County sheriff near Volga. The towns of Volga and Garber (Clayton County) had to be evacuated with many residents being rescued by boat.
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:42 UTC.
Event by event
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Clayton
- When
- May 16, 5:00 PM CST to May 17, 12:00 AM CST
- Where
- Clayton County, Countywide
- Property damage
- $1.5 million
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 42.845, -91.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Tornado in Iowa, May 16, 1999
- Tornado in Iowa, May 16, 1999
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Iowa, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Tornado in Iowa, May 16, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 16, 1999
- Flooding in Iowa, May 16 to 20, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Oklahoma, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Rip Current in California, May 16, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Wisconsin, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kansas, May 16 to 17, 1999
- Hail in Kansas, May 16, 1999
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, May 1999
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: 5696207, 5696208.