May 16, 1996
Heavy rains during the morning hours on the 16th resulted in flash flooding across much of Mercer County. Heavy rains flooded numerous roads, homes and businesses, washed out bridges, resulted in evacuations, caused mudslides, and damaged a school and a park. At one time, downtown Matoaka was covered with 18 inches of water. A mudslide resulted in $ 30,000 in damage to a church in Bluewell. In Oakdale, several families were trapped in their home. A family of nine was rescued from the roof of thi
Source: NOAA National Weather Service Storm Events Database (event 5554582). Narrative written by NWS staff at the time of the event.
This event is one of many recorded floods in Mercer County. See the full FEMA flood zone map, NFIP claim totals, and disaster history for the area.