Hurricane Irma: Rainfall & Flooding

Flooding does not depend on the strength of the storm, but it is related to the forward motion, or speed, of the storm. Slow moving tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes can produce torrential rains that can lead to flooding. This flooding can be hundreds of miles away from the center of the storm and is often called inland flooding. These slow-moving storms can produce more than 20” of rain over a period of a couple of days. Even after the winds have subsided, the flooding potential can remain for several days, even weeks, after the storm.

Here are some of the rainfall totals from Hurricane Irma across several locations in the Southeast U.S.: