Pair of Storms Blast Area Over Memorial Day Holiday; Rain Totals of Nearly 4 Inches and Damaging Winds
By Jeff Toquinto on May 29, 2024
A pair of storms in less than 24 hours blasted Bridgeport over the Memorial Day weekend and left a trail of destruction in its path.
The first storm, which struck almost near midnight on Saturday, May 25 and continued until about 4 p.m., blasted the area with torrential rains of a sustained period of time. The rain led to numerous problems, most notable flooding of areas throughout Bridgeport.
According to Bridgeport Emergency Management Director Tim Curry, a trio of rain gauges in the city all showed the weather event to produce more than three inches of rain. The gauge at the North Central West Virginia Airport showed nearly 4 inches at 3.88 inches of rain, while the Bridgeport Safety Complex gauge reported a number showing 3.2 inches of rain. The gauge at The Bridge came in at 3.6 inches of rain.
“That amount of rain in that period of time is taxing on anybody’s system,” said Curry.
Curry said areas along Ann’s Run and Simpson Creek saw a heavy doses of flooding, particularly along Route 131 and Hall Vally.
“There were a lot of places that saw flooding, but those two were particularly hit hard,” said Curry.
Areas reporting flooding included Hall Valley Drive, Willis Avenue, Olive Street, Williams Avenue, Broadway Avenue, and all areas along Route 131. There were trees down in several of those areas listed, along with several others – too many for Curry to list them all.
A section of Route 131 was closed early in the morning of the storm Sunday. He said a culvert issue led to the roadway flooding.
“The good news is that there were no reported injuries or death by the first storm,” said Curry. “The same held true for the second one.”
Curry described the second storm that hit the area around 7 p.m. Sunday, May 26, and primarily a “wind event.” He said there were a lot of trees down with that particular storm.
“Maple Lake, which is just outside the city, saw a lot of trees down as well as residents there seeing power outages,” said Curry.
Early Tuesday morning, there were 109 without power in that area. By the time this story is running, all of the power in that area is anticipated to have been on for hours.
“Our public works crew was out the entire day Sunday; God bless those guys because they’re impressive and did everything aske of them from clearing debris in culverts to roadways,” said Curry. “The fire department worked all night as well assuring safety,” said Curry.
Curry said there were no accidents he was aware of that were related to either storm.
The storm, he said, was not isolated to Bridgeport or West Virginia. He said it started in through the southern and central plans region of the country before rolling through the mid-Atlantic region. The system, which began Friday and ended Monday, produced 76 tornadoes, 923 high-wind events, and 337 hail events, according to information from FEMA.
Editor's Note: Top photo, courtesy of John Minnocci, shows Sunday evening's storm rolling in toward Bridgeport in a view from Crystal Ridge. Bottom photo shows a car under a whole lot of water on Broadway Avenue.
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