Camping Family Escapes Black River Flooding After 2 NWS Alerts and 9 Inches of Rain
Updated
Updated · First Alert 4 · Jul 11
Camping Family Escapes Black River Flooding After 2 NWS Alerts and 9 Inches of Rain
3 articles · Updated · First Alert 4 · Jul 11
Summary
3 a.m. evacuation orders sent Dan Schult’s family fleeing Parks Bluff Campground after floodwater reached their camper steps and rose another 4 to 5 inches within minutes.
Two National Weather Service alerts drove the escape: a considerable flash flood warning at 2:35 a.m. and a flash flood emergency at 4:16 a.m.
Rainfall totals jumped from about 6 inches to 9 inches between those alerts, prompting forecasters to call the event unusually catastrophic and rare.
Schult said the phone warnings and campground staff likely saved his family, adding he will no longer ignore emergency alerts.
The NWS urged campers to keep wireless alerts on, carry a NOAA weather radio and turn around at flooded roads.