Remembering 1999 Hurricane Floyd
September 17, 2012; 7:11 AM
Hurricane Floyd made landfall near Cape Fear, N.C., Sept. 16, 1999 as a Category 2 storm.
At the time of landfall, Floyd had a forward speed of nearly 15 mph. The hurricane hit hard with wind gusts estimated to be 103 mph. Storm surge depths of 9 to 10 feet were reported along the coast of North Carolina.
Floyd was the deadliest hurricane in the U.S. since Hurricane Agnes in 1972, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). When the storm was over, 57 people had been killed (56 in the U.S. and one in Grand Bahama Island). Most of the deaths were attributed to freshwater drowning.
After impacting North Carolina, Floyd's forward speed increased to nearly 33 mph. Despite the quick movement of the system, rainfall totals for states along the eastern coast of the U.S. were staggering.
Rainfall of 15 to 20 inches fell in parts of eastern North Carolina and Virginia. Areas of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey received as much as 12-14 inches of rain. Philadelphia set a record for the most rainfall in a calendar day with 6.63 inches.
Damages from Floyd were determined to range from $3 to more than $6 billion dollars.