Flash Flood in Alaska, May 7 to 11, 2002

Name: Flash Flood in Alaska, May 7 to 11, 2002
Start: 2002-05-07T00:00
End: 2002-05-11T23:59
Location: Alaska

May 7 to 11, 2002 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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

The toll

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Kuskokwim Valley

When: May 7, 12:00 AM AST to May 11, 11:59 PM AST
Where: Kuskokwim Valley County, Southwest Portion
Deaths: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

A breaking ice jam on the Stony River, and the inflow to the Kuskokwim River contributed to significant river rises at Sleetmute and Red Devil by the 7th of May. This resulted in execution of an evacuation plan at Red Devil. By the 11th of May, Sleetmute was experiencing the highest breakup rise in recent memory. All streets were flooded, water was reported in several houses and water was flowing under several newer, elevated houses. The ice jam just downstream of Red Devil caused moderate flooding in the village, with water covering the center of the runway, leaving only the ends useable.

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
Flash Flood, Kuskokwim Valley	2002-06-17	27	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Flash Flood, Kuskokwim Valley	2002-06-17	21	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Flash Flood, Kuskokwim Valley	2002-06-17	15	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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 Alaska in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, May 2002

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: 5296614.