January 1996 Flash Flood In The Susquehanna River Basin

January 1996 Flash Flood In The Susquehanna River Basin. . , An unusual combination of heavy snowpack, high winds, unseasonably warm temperatures, heavy rainfall, and ice jams resulted in a basin wide flash flood in the Susquehanna River Basin from January 19-21, 1996. The heavy accumulation of snow from the Blizzard of 1996 and previous snowfalls totaled nearly four in. of precipitation. As the temperature and dew point rose steadily during the night of January 18, the snowpack became saturated and unable to absorb the additional precipitation from the heavy rainfalls that followed., Impacts and damages in the Susquehanna River Basin from the January 1996 flash flood include:, 14 lives were lost , More than $600 million in damages occurred. The flood is considered the third worst in the basin's history. , The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs, including the East Sidney Dam, held back the 167 million gallons of flood waters, preventing more than $1.3 billion in additional damages. , The formation or breakup of ice jams caused rises in river levels e much as and feet an hour. , The peak flow at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during the flood was 570,000 cubic feet per second, 20 times the normal flow. The Susquehanna River rose from a normal stage of 7 feet to over 22 feet in a little over 14 hours. , The federal government declared the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, all New York counties in the basin, and five counties in Maryland disaster areas.