Flooding Was Nearly Three Times Deadlier Than Tornadoes and Lightning Combined in 2015-16, NOAA Says

Brian Donegan
Published: April 27,2017
Flooding was extremely deadly in the United States over the past two years, claiming many more lives than tornadoes and lightning combined.
From January 2015 through December 2016, 302 people were killed by floodwaters, while 65 deaths were caused by lightning and 53 were the result of tornadoes, according to NOAA statistics.
Of the 126 flood deaths in 2016 alone, the highest number occurred in Texas, with 38. This was followed by 24 fatalities in West Virginia – 23 from a flash flood in June – and 20 deaths in North Carolina, all from Hurricane Matthew's record flooding in October.
(MORE: Hurricane Matthew Recap)

In this photo released by The Weather Channel, a vehicle rests in a stream after a flooding rain event near White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Friday, June 24, 2016.
(Justin Michaels/The Weather Channel via AP)

In 2015, the 176 flood deaths in 26 states were the most since 1995, according to NOAA.
The 302 lives lost in flooding from 2015 through 2016 was almost three times as many deaths than we saw from tornadoes and lightning combined in that same period – 118.
For comparison, there are typically about 82 flood deaths a year; flooding is, on average, the second-deadliest weather-related event in the U.S. behind extreme heat.
Since 1995, the number of flood deaths annually has ranged from a low of 29 in 2012 to as many as 176 in 2015. The second-deadliest year was 1998, when 136 were killed.

Only heat has caused more deaths than flooding on an annual basis during the last 30 years (1986-2015).
(NOAA)

With regards to yearly rainfall, studies have shown climate change may increase the risk of heavy rain around the world. According to a 2016 study, the number of days with extremely heavy precipitation has increased 1 to 2 percent every decade in both typically wet and dry locations.
(MORE: Warming Brings Increasing Flood Risk and Heavier Rain)

Vehicles and Floodwaters Are a Dangerous and Deadly Combination

Vehicles have been involved in a large number of flood deaths over the years.
In 2015, about 64 percent (112 out of 176) of flood deaths involved vehicles. Many of those likely occurred when people attempted to cross a flooded road, NOAA said.
Vehicles were also a part of many flood-related fatalities in 2016. As an example, many of the 20 deaths in North Carolina from Hurricane Matthew involved motorists swept away on flooded roads.
If there is one thing to take away from reading this article, it is that you should never attempt to drive through floodwaters.
(MORE: In Flash Flooding, Your Vehicle Can Be Your Biggest Danger)
It's easy to misjudge the depth of floodwater, particularly at night. Sometimes the bridge or road masked by flood water may have been undermined or completely washed out.
According to FEMA:

• Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger cars, causing loss of control and potential stalling.
• One foot of water will float many vehicles.
• Two feet of rushing water will carry away most vehicles, including SUVs and pickups.

Vehicles are left stranded on Texas State Highway 288 in Houston, Texas, May 26, 2015.
(Aaron M. Sprecher/AFP/Getty Images)

A note about this report:
For 2015, we used the deaths in NOAA's flood hazard report. Deaths in 2016 were compiled using NOAA's storm data and local storm reports from the National Weather Service. It is possible there have been other flood-related deaths in 2016 not uncovered in our thorough search.