Great Storms That Have Touched Us at Home in North Carolina

Hurricanes have been hitting the North Carolina coast for thousands of years.  The very first severe hurricane in North Carolina in recent history was in the year 1904.  It was a Category 3 in which there was loss of lives and property.

In September 1913, a short but strong hurricane crossed over the Outer Banks and into the Pamlico Sound.  This hurricane had a maximum wind speed of 75 mph.  In that storm a schooner crashed near Washington, North Carolina killing the families on board.

The Great Hurricane of 1928 crossed the Sandhills on Sept. 18, 1928.  It caused floods, and in Fayetteville, the Cape Fear River reached a height of 64.7 feet.  Flooding at Lumberton was the worst in history and thousands of acres of crop lands were under water.

Hurricane Hazel struck in October, 1954.  It was an awful storm and caused lots of damage.  Its winds were in excess of 125 mph.  In Fayetteville, the high winds were 110 mph.

In August 1999, Hurricane Dennis sweep through eastern North Carolina and lasted about a week.  Ten days later, Hurricane Floyd hit.

Hurricane Floyd was our most recent storm.  It was a large Cape Verde Hurricane that destroyed central and northern Bahaman islands, seriously threatened Florida, and struck the coast of North Carolina and moved up the United States east coast into New England.  It came close to being a Level 5 on the Saffir/Simpson Scale.  It caused great flood damage in eastern United States and 57 deaths.  The death toll was as follows:  North Carolina, 35; Pennsylvania, 6; New Jersey, 6; Virginia, 3; Delaware, 2; New York 2; Connecticut, 1; Vermont, 1.

Floyd was the deadliest hurricane in the United States since Agnes of 1972.  The damage to property was estimated to be 1.325 billion dollars.  Total damage estimates range from 3 to 6 billion dollars.

  Title Page/ Storms/ Hurricanes by Other Names/Famous Storms/  Predicting Storms/Staying Safe/ Fun Stuff/ Our Stories/ Bibliography/Guest Book