Flooding in Puerto Rico, March 7 to 9, 2001

Name: Flooding in Puerto Rico, March 7 to 9, 2001
Start: 2001-03-07T22:00
End: 2001-03-09T11:00
Location: Puerto Rico

March 7 to 9, 2001 · NWS SJU · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

A strong low pressure system north of the area caused large northwest swells to move across the coastal waters. These swells began to arrive on Wednesday night and continued into Friday morning.

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $220,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

A strong low pressure system north of the area caused large northwest swells to move across the coastal waters. These swells began to arrive on Wednesday night and continued into Friday morning. The most affected areas were the west and north coasts of the island where various coastal roads were inundated especially at times of high tide. Emergency Managers indicated road 681 in Barceloneta, road 187 in Loiza, and various roads in Aguadilla and Mayaguez were directly affected by the heavy surf with water, sand and debris. In Yumet sector in Aguadilla these swells partially destroyed a boardwalk and street lightning. In Higuey sector, also in Aguadilla, various boats and a drydock were partially damaged. Elsewhere, in Manati Beach two people were walking along the beach Wednesday night when they were overtaken by the large waves and pulled out to sea. One person was able to reach land. The other one disappeared and was presumed dead.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS San Juan, PR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 7, 10:00 PM AST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 10:00 PM AST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
1000 PM AST WED MAR 07 2001

I MADE SOME CHANGES TO THE FORECASTS INVOLVING THE SKY CONDITION
SINCE CLEARING DID NOT TAKE PLACE AND THE POPS WHERE THERE WAS
NO MENTION HAD TO INSERT A LESS THAN 20 PCT AS THERE ARE ISOLATED
SHOWERS IN SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST BANDS FROM THE MONA TO THE
ATLANTIC OCEAN. AN ALMOST SURE THING IS A COASTAL FLOOD WARNING
BEFORE 8AM. THE HIGH TIDE AT 8:13 AM WILL BE ENOUGH REASON TO
REQUIRE IT. ALREADY THIS EVENING AT HIGH TIDE THE OCEAN CAME IN
OVER ROUTE 681 BETWEEN ARECIBO AND BARCELONETA. THIS WILL HAPPEN
AGAIN THURSDAY EVEN MORE SO BECAUSE THE SWELLS WILL BE 9 TO 12 FEET
AND FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS LIKE PINONES FOR EXAMPLE AND LUQUILLO.
SO A COASTAL FLOOD WARNING CAN NOT BE AVOIDED AS I SEE IT. THE
HEAVY SURF ADVISORY CONTINUES IN EFFECT AS WELL AS THE SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY FOR THE ATLANTIC AND ALL PASSAGES. THIS WILL HAVE TO
INCLUDE THE MONA THURSDAY.

EQUIPMENT: NO PROBLEMS AT THIS TIME.

SJU...
.PR...SCA AMZ770-750 AND PARTS OF AMZ773-775. HSA PRZ001-002-005-
008-010-012. CFA PRZ001-002-005-008-010-012.
.VI...SCA AMZ770-750 AND PARTS OF AMZ773. HSA VIZ001. CFA VIZ001.

17

OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TEXT FORECASTS (IN ENGLISH OR
SPANISH)...SATELLITE IMAGERY...DOPPLER RADAR DATA...AND A VIRTUAL
LIBRARY OF WEATHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT THE NWS SAN JUAN WEB
SITES AT:

KHTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJU (ALL LOWER CASE).

     OR

HTTP://WWW.UPR.CLU.EDU/NWS (ALL LOWER CASE).

Event by event

5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, North Central

When: March 7, 10:00 PM AST to March 9, 11:00 AM AST
Where: North Central County, North Portion
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Flood, Mayaguez and Vicinity

When: March 7, 10:00 PM AST to March 9, 11:00 AM AST
Where: Mayaguez and Vicinity County, West Portion
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Flood, Northeast

When: March 7, 10:00 PM AST to March 9, 11:00 AM AST
Where: Northeast County, North Portion
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Flood, Northwest

When: March 7, 10:00 PM AST to March 9, 11:00 AM AST
Where: Northwest County, North Portion
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Flood, San Juan and Vicinity

When: March 7, 10:00 PM AST to March 9, 11:00 AM AST
Where: San Juan and Vicinity County, North Portion
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

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
Flood, North Central	2001-03-07	29	Male	In Water	Direct

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Puerto Rico, March 2001

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: 5230188, 5230189, 5230190, 5230191, 5230192.