Only 3 deaths were attributed to the flooding in the National Weather Service (NWS) Wakefield, Virginia county warning area, associated with Dennis '99 and Floyd 99. This extreme flood episode, that affected over 2 million people in the NWS Wakefield, Virginia county warning area, offers the opportunity to analyze what aspects of the forecast and coordination processes contributed to the significant reduction in loss of life.
This study will address the NWS Wakefield, Virginia decision-making process prior to and during the flooding, Emergency Management needs, inter-office, inter-agency and external coordination, staffing, and personal needs. NWS Wakefield, Virginia was directly impacted by the flooding, becoming inaccessible to all forms of transportation and communications for more than 48 hours, with the exception of cellular phone communications. A description of the flooding conditions will be provided, as well as lessons that NWS Wakefield learned from this episode.
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