

000 

WGUS72 KGSP 172328

FFSGSP

NCC023-035-180115-



FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC

727 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002



...FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS CONTINUE UNTIL 8 PM EDT FOR CATAWBA COUNTY 

AND UNTIL 9 PM FOR BURKE COUNTY...



HEAVY RAIN HAS MOVED EAST OF THE CITY OF HICKORY FOR THE TIME BEING. 

AT 710 PM RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH MODERATE TO 

HEAVY RAIN MOVING ACROSS MCDOWELL COUNTY...INTO THE WESTERN PART OF 

BURKE COUNTY.



THE SMALL SCALE FEATURE WHICH CAUSED THE PERSISTENT RAINFALL AND 

FLOODING ACROSS THE AREA FROM THE HICKORY AIRPORT NEAR 

ICARD...ACROSS THE CITY OF HICKORY HAS APPARENTLY MOVED AWAY.



HOWEVER...HIGH WATER AND FLOOD PROBLEMS WILL CONTINUE ALL EVENING IN 

THE AREA.  THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES 

DOWNED BY FLOODING...AT LEAST ONE REPORT OF A ROOF 

COLLAPSE...NUMEROUS STRUCTURE FIRES FROM LIGHTNING...AND PEOPLE 

TRAPPED IN VEHICLES CAUGHT IN FLOOD WATER. THE SERIOUS NATURE OF 

THIS URBAN FLOOD HAS CAUSED GREAT DIFFICULTY FOR EMERGENCY 

RESPONDERS IN TERMS OF GETTING AROUND THE CITY.



DO NOT BECOME A FATALITY DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS...THE ROAD COULD

BE WASHED OUT FROM THE FLOW OF THE WATER...AND YOUR CAR COULD BE 

SWEPT AWAY BY THE SWIFTLY MOVING WATER.  MOST FLOOD FATALITIES 

RESULT WHEN CARS ARE DRIVEN INTO OR ARE CAUGHT IN FLOOD WATER. EVEN 

MODERN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES CANNOT BE SAFELY DRIVEN IN FLOOD WATER.



$$

JONES

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