JULY 8

1991 

Nocturnal thunderstorms on two consecutive nights (the 7th and 8th) uprooted trees, dropped as much as two and a half inches of rain, and knocked out power to at least 5000 homes. Trees were reported down in the Erie county towns of Concord, Collins, Evans, Wales and Clarence. Power outages, some lasting up to seven hours, were scattered throughout Erie and Chautauqua counties. The unusually continuous and vivid lightning reportedly sparked six house fires. Lighting detection systems measured hundreds of cloud-to-ground strikes an hour. There were some reports of localized flooding. 

1997

Severe thunderstorms crossed the western southern tier during the afternoon hours . The strong winds downed trees and power lines in Panama, Fluvanna, Allegany. One inch hail fell in Salamanca. A party tent was blown over. Scattered power outages were reported. In Allegany county, a weak tornado touched down in Stannards during the afternoon. Trees, up to 2 feet wide, were snapped off, twisted and a few were uprooted. One power line was downed by a falling tree. A parked car was destroyed when a large tree fell on it. Witnesses reported torrential rain, followed by one inch hail, a quick period of calm and then the appearance of the tornado.

1998

Localized thunderstorms early in the morning of the 8th dropped three to five inches of rain across parts of Erie, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and Monroe counties. Over five inches fell in just a few hours over much of Wyoming county. This resulted in rare, widespread devastating flash flooding. Many small streams and creeks became raging torrents and the upper reaches of the Tonawanda Creek rose drastically--faster than at any time in at least 30 years according to locals--and flooded out much of the Village of Attica. Two deaths resulted from the flooding. A 28 year-old female and a 17 year-old male drowned while attempting to rescue animals from the basement of an animal clinic. More thunderstorms during the afternoon aggravated the flooding on the Tonawanda creek which rose well above flood stage downstream to Batavia the following day. The crest dissipated further downstream with limited flooding reported near Newstead. Cayuga creek at Lancaster rose above flood stage for several hours on the 8th. Oatka creek in Garbutt, rose above flood stage the afternoon of the 9th and remained so through the afternoon of the 10th. A State of Emergency was declared for all of Wyoming County. Nearly 400 buildings were damaged in Wyoming county and damage to crop land was severe. The extensive flooding closed numerous roads throughout the multi-county area. Several were completely washed out. Specific road closures included: Rte.78 in Depew, Rte.98 in Arcade, Four Rod and Old Three Rod Roads in Alden, Rte.63 in Dansville, and Rte.20 in Darien. In Attica alone, nearly one hundred homes and businesses were evacuated. Evacuations also occurred in Sardinia, Dansville, Warsaw and Alexander. In the aftermath, Wyoming, Genesee, Livingston and Monroe counties were declared Federal Disaster Areas. Nearly three inches of rain fell at the Rochester airport with slightly higher amounts reported over the southern suburbs. Urban flooding resulted in Rochester, Pittsford and Penfield. In Penfield, basements of the Forest Hills Condominium complex flooded for the second time this year. Many of the basements and appliances had just been repaired and replaced following floods in January.