Idaho man goes canoeing down flooded street after heavy hailstorm left it choked with sheets of ice

A man was seen paddling a canoe down a flooded street in Nampa, Idaho, after a powerful hailstorm left the road covered in sheets of ice. As seen in the footage, it was recorded by someone riding in a car that was driving through the flooded street at the time.

The video shows water rushing past the car’s tires as it moves down the road, with the sound of the current audible in the clip. A parked car along the street appeared to be submerged up to its taillights. When the camera turned toward the driver’s side, a man could be seen paddling a green canoe through the icy water.

The flooding was caused by storms that hit the area overnight, according to Idaho News. City crews were reportedly deployed starting at 9 p.m. to address the flooding, with a second crew taking over at around 6 a.m.

The storm also brought hundreds of lightning strikes to the region 

Work crews reportedly pumped out more than 228,000 gallons of water from the flooded streets, though additional work remained afterward. The city encouraged residents to report street flooding by calling the Street Division at (208) 489-6645 if water levels reached the top of the curb.

The hailstorm that caused the flooding was part of a broader wave of severe weather that hit Idaho’s Treasure Valley region over the first full weekend of summer, according to the New York Post. Josh Smith, the Boise-based National Weather Service’s lead meteorologist, told the Idaho Statesman, “It was small hail, but there was an awful lot of it.”

Cars parked along local streets were reportedly nearly submerged by rising water, with some vehicles covered up to their windows. Trash bins were also seen floating through the flooded streets. Winds reportedly topped 50 mph during the storm, which contributed to the damage across the region.

Smith said, “Even some of our employees that were in northwest Meridian said they had several inches of small hail on the ground.” He added, “That probably led to some of the flooding issues with some of those neighborhoods because all that melted off quickly, and the drains weren’t able to handle it, in addition to the inch-plus rain that we received.”

Smith also said that the storm produced significant lightning activity. Rural Owyhee County, located roughly 150 miles south of Boise near the Nevada border, reportedly recorded 553 lightning strikes, while Ada County recorded 100 lightning strikes in a single day, which Smith said was the second-most strikes recorded on a single day in June since 2000.

Officials in Canyon County declared a countywide disaster emergency in response to the storm damage, according to the Idaho Statesman. Employees with the Ada County Highway District reportedly worked overnight to clear flooded roads and address other hazards caused by the storm.

The Boise Police Department shared photos on Facebook showing river-like conditions on local roads and urged drivers to use “extra caution.” In neighboring Payette County, mudslides triggered by the flooding reportedly caused multiple highway and street closures on Friday, according to a statement from the Payette County Sheriff’s Office.

An advisory cited by East Idaho News warned, “Plan on cold and wet backcountry conditions with a heightened hypothermia risk for those not properly dressed. Wet snow may down trees and block access to forest roadways.” 

Social media users reacted to the footage of the man canoeing through the flooded street with a mix of amusement and concern. One commenter wrote, “Never in my life have I heard ‘inches of hail.'” Another wrote, “Hail? Was it hailing sheets of ice? I’ve never seen anything like this. This is some of the most bizarre weather. I’m from West Texas, so that’s saying a lot.” Another joked, “Haha, they woke up and said, ‘hell yeah, I don’t even have to travel to use my kayak today, I can do it right in front of my house!'”