Tuscaloosa Experienced '500-Year' Rain Event Saturday: Mayor

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox says parts of the city received five or more inches of rain in less than two hours Saturday afternoon, as widespread flooding across much of the area stranded motorists and left one man dead.

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Maddox said a rain gauge (RG-1) on Kauloosa Avenue recorded 5.12 inches of rain from 12:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday, with another 0.11 inches coming from lighter showers later in the day.

He then pointed out that the National Weather Service's Precipitation Frequency shows that 5.14 inches of rain in two hours is a "500-year, 2-hour storm event."

ALSO READ: Northport Trailer Park Slammed With More Flooding

"But this intense 2-hour downpour was what caused the problems," Maddox said on Facebook Sunday. "I compared this to other rainfall data sources at the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS). NWS showed a total of over 5 inches and CoCoRAHS showed 4.68 inches, so I am confident in our rain gauge data for this event."

Rain gauge data

What's more, Maddox highlighted a one-hour period where the rainfall total was measured at 4.45 inches.

"This exceeds the 4.34-inch threshold for a 1,000-year, 1-hour storm event," Maddox said. "The other 4 rain gauges all recorded totals of between 1 and 2 inches, so the mind-boggling totals at RG-1 were very localized. This also matches up with the other rainfall data sources."

Tuscaloosa fire and police both responded to well over 100 calls of stranded motorists or flooding during the rain event, including one motorist who lost his life after his SUV was washed away by flash flood waters and into a drainage ditch near the intersection of Greensboro Avenue and 24th Street.

As Patch reported Sunday morning, the victim's body was found Sunday morning and identified as 40-year-old Kelvin Watford — a Tuscaloosa resident who was originally from Hale County.

Widespread flooding was also reported on the University of Alabama campus and in the vicinity of the Strip Saturday, with numerous videos and photos circulating of abandoned vehicles and motorists attempting to traverse the high water.

Across the Black Warrior River in Northport, Willowbrook Trailer Park was once again hit with flooding from nearby Hunter Creek, after the park was devastated on June 19 in a flooding event prompted by Tropical Storm Claudette.

Patch reported that no swift water rescues were needed from the flooding at the mobile home community Saturday, as officials underscored that Saturday's event was not as a destructive as the flooding on June 19.

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