Coastal Services Center

Hurricane Floyd Impacts

Storm Effects

• Deaths: 56
• Homes destroyed: 7,000
• Homes uninhabitable: 17,000
• Homes damaged: 56,000
• Number of people housed in temporary shelters: 10,000
• Number of customers without electricity at some point: over 500,000
• Number of people rescued from flooded areas: over 1,500

"Nothing since the Civil War has been as destructive to families here," says H. David Bruton, the state's Secretary of Health and Human Services..."The recovery process will be much longer than the water-going-down process."

Hurricane Floyd was responsible for massive inland flooding over portions of the eastern U.S., particularly in Northeastern South Carolina and Southeastern North Carolina. The death toll from Floyd makes this the deadliest U.S. tropical cyclone since Agnes of 1972.

Most of the roads east of Interstate 95 were flooded and the majority of Duplin and Greene Counties in North Carolina were under water. Eastern North Carolina suffered severe agricultural damage. Wilmington, North Carolina, reported a new 24-hour station rainfall record (128 year record) with 13.38 inches and over 19 inches for the event. The Tar River crested 24 feet above flood stage and the maximum storm surge was estimated to be 10.3 feet on Masonboro Island in New Hanover County, North Carolina.

Hurricane Floyd was the fourth hurricane to brush the North Carolina coast area since 1996 and followed Dennis, which passed Cape Fear, North Carolina on August 30, 1999. The most serious effects of Floyd were the heavy rainfall and ensuing flooding. Hurricane Floyd covered a large area and lasted longer than a typical category two hurricane which caused heavy rainfall. Approximately 2.6 million people evacuated their homes in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas — the largest peacetime evacuation in U.S. history. Ten states were declared major disaster areas, including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Brief History of Hurricane Floyd

On September 2, 1999, Hurricane Floyd formed from a tropical wave off the coast of Africa. By September 10, Floyd turned from a westward to a northwest course and its intensification trend temporarily halted. However, as Floyd turned back to the west it strengthened into a major hurricane and then to a strong category four hurricane on the Saffir/Simpson scale with 155 mile per hour (mph) winds. On September 13 and 14, Floyd ravaged portions of the central and northwest Bahamas. On September 16, Floyd turned to a northwest and north course while slowly weakening, eventually making landfall near Cape Fear North Carolina as a category two hurricane around 2:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The hurricane moved over the eastern part of North Carolina and accelerated north-northeast up the coast as it weakened. Visit the Historical Hurricane Tracks Web site for more information on tropical cyclone storm tracks.