Jul 14, 1996
A woman and three children drowned when the car they were riding was swept off the pavement into Walnut Creek. The normally dry creek was running 4 feet deep over a dip in the road following heavy rain of 2 to 4 inches on the watershed 12 to 18 miles to the west. Rain had ended about 3 PM. Water began to fill the Spence Road low water crossing around 530PM. The vehicle entered the water at dark or about 9PM. The 48 year old male driver of the vehicle was rescued by other motorists.
Source: NOAA National Weather Service Storm Events Database (event 5568310). Narrative written by NWS staff at the time of the event.
This event is one of many recorded floods in Chaves County. See the full FEMA flood zone map, NFIP claim totals, and disaster history for the area.