Midwest Spring Flood, April 2008

In the Spring of 2008, portions of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Wisconsin experienced two to three times the normal precipitation.  In some cases, rainfall intensity was extreme, with 48-hr precipitation totals on March 18-19 approaching or exceeding the magnitude of a 1000-year event in southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois.

The resultant flooding was widespread and catastrophic.  In Missouri, record flooding occurred on the Black, Gasconade, James and Meramec Rivers.  Record flooding also impacted locations on the Spring River in Hardy, Arkansas, and the Patoka River in Indiana.  Following the March 18-19 deluge, major flooding affected more than 20 rivers, with almost 400 NWS river forecast points experiencing flooding.  From February to April 2008, the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) web pages was “hit” about a quarter of a billion times.

Throughout these months, communication with NWS partners in the emergency management community and the general public was vital.  In addition, NWS offices also had to deal with repeated outbreaks of severe weather.  Extended hours of operation were common at the responsible River Forecast Centers.  NWS staff made a concerted effort to provide informal notices to the emergency managers – before public products were issued – a week or more before major flooding.

The outstanding level of service was possible because of collaboration throughout the NWS, from the River Forecast Centers, and Weather Forecast Offices to the National Center for Environmental Protection’s Hydrometeorological Prediction Center and Climate Prediction Center.  It took the work of the entire NWS team to fulfill its mission.

Steve Bays, a Service Hydrologist in Little Rock, was in the “eye of the storm.”  For more than a month, Steve had only had 2 days away from the office.  And his offices days were usually much longer than 8 hours.  Rivers that pass through Little Rock’s Hydrologic Service Area saw some of the worst flooding during the latter part of March and into April, with many forecast locations on the Black and White Rivers experiencing major flooding.  In addition to leading the efforts of the staff at Little Rock in providing flood forecasts and warnings, Steve spent countless hours conducting local and national media interviews and ensuring that key partners in the emergency management community had the information they needed to prepare for and respond to flooding. 

He personally contacted Mayor Nina Thornton of Hardy, AR, on the morning of March 17 to inform her that the Spring River could crest higher than the record-setting level of the September 2006 event.  This communication occurred 24 hours before the heavy rainfall began.  As it turned out, the March 19 flood crest was 6 feet higher than the September 2006 event, and yet no one was killed.  Afterwards, the mayor let Steve know that his phone call saved lives.  Other property owners expressed their appreciation for Steve’s early warning that allowed them to move their property out of harm’s way.