Flash Flood Warnings across the United States climbed to 122 Thursday morning — a 51 percent increase from Wednesday’s 81-warning count — as the multi-day flooding event expanded to 15 states and shifted its worst impacts into the Ohio Valley.
The National Weather Service is carrying active warnings from the Gulf Coast to coastal Maine and from the Pacific Northwest to the Mid-Atlantic. The 15-state footprint — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia — represents a broader geographic spread than at any point in this ongoing event.
Southern Ohio drew the most urgent warnings Thursday. Radar-confirmed totals of 4 to 7 inches have fallen across Athens, Gallia, Jackson, Meigs, and Vinton counties, with an additional 2 to 4 inches still possible. The National Weather Service used the phrase “life-threatening flash flooding” in warnings covering that corridor — language reserved for the most severe events in its alert tier.
The flooding pressure extends across adjoining states in the Ohio Valley. Jackson, Mason, and Wood counties in West Virginia are under active warnings, as are Clark, Garrard, and Madison counties in central Kentucky and Jackson, Jennings, and Washington counties in southern Indiana. The four-state corridor represents the event’s sharpest inland penetration to date.
In Louisiana, the National Weather Service office in Lake Charles issued warnings for Avoyelles, Evangeline, and St. Landry parishes in the central part of the state, where 1 to 3 inches had already fallen and radar indicated an additional 2 to 4 inches remained possible as of early Thursday. Texas, which drove much of Wednesday’s activity, remains in the warning footprint.
In the Northeast, the Buffalo metropolitan area recorded 1.5 to 2 inches of overnight rainfall, producing flash flooding across Erie County. The National Weather Service noted Thursday morning that flooding impacts were ongoing but no additional rainfall was expected, suggesting conditions there may stabilize sooner than in the Ohio Valley. Residents can track updates at Buffalo weather.
Stone County, Mississippi, is also under an active warning, extending the event’s Gulf South reach into a third consecutive day.
The National Weather Service urges all residents and motorists in warned areas to avoid flooded roads. The agency’s standing guidance: “Turn around, don’t drown.” The majority of flood fatalities nationwide occur in vehicles.
Conditions across southern Ohio, West Virginia, and Louisiana are expected to remain volatile through midday Thursday. Motorists in Texas should also remain cautious; Houston weather forecasts remain active as the Gulf Coast footprint persists.