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THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING FLOYD

Fall 2009

Hurricane Floyd

Sep 1, 2009

EMERGENCY MANAGERS PREPARE FOR THE WORST; HOPE FOR THE BEST

On a recent July morning in Brunswick County, carefree locals and tourists head for their favorite barrier island beaches. Most are unaware of the dozens of emergency workers scrambling to "hurricane disasters" enfolding at sites in nearby Shallotte and Grissettown: A Category 3 hurricane has leveled two buildings — trapping, injuring or killing the occupants.

Sep 1, 2009

FROM NC TO DC: NOAA Official Remembers Floyd

Heavy surf battered the coastline for days on end. Drenching rain was recorded well inland. As the warning coordination meteorologist, Laura Furgione was still working with county emergency management leaders to review damage surveys and conduct outreach when a new tropical system — to be named Floyd — was identified.

Sep 1, 2009

CI-FLOW: Partnerships Enhance Flood Forecasting

Although significant near-record river flooding was anticipated in advance of Hurricane Floyd, the uncertainty in its track and rainfall amounts made it difficult to forecast the unprecedented speed and extent of rising water levels in inland rivers and coastal sounds.

Sep 1, 2009

COMMUNICATING HURRICANES: Accurate Information, Timely Delivery

If a coastal storm is brewing, where will coastal residents turn for accurate information? How do social, news and other information networks become emergency communications networks?
Flooded street in Princeville, North Carolina.

Sep 1, 2009

THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING FLOYD

Along North Carolina's southeastern coast, all eyes were on Hurricane Floyd on Sept. 15, 1999. And, for good reason. The monstrous storm was churning up the Atlantic with its eye fixed on the Cape Fear region. Floyd had roared through the Bahamas as a Category 4 and threatened the Florida coast as a Category 3.