2. On September 15 th 1999, the Carolina coast was hit with a raging hurricane, just 10 days after a hurricane and tropical storm. Near the eye of the storm winds raged at 130 miles per hour. This made is a category 3 storm, however it was not ordinary, it was twice the size of a normal Atlantic hurricane, it was 580 miles across. Over a 12 hour period, Floyd dumped around 15-20 inches of rain.
3. The hurricane left a large path of destruction, however the most costly damage was from the rising rivers and creeks, through north Carolina. On the 16 th even though the electricity was out, people returned back to work like normal. However that night 4 of the rivers overran their banks and spilled into the urban areas, trapping people on their roofs The waters rose and covered roads that would be used to escape, the waters drowned millions of chickens, and hundreds and thousands of pigs. Flood waters swept through sewage plants, contaminating water supplies in many communities. The waters reached as high as 24 feet, and erased the town of Princeville. 14 states were effected, from Florida to Maine.
4. Hurricane Floyd claimed 51 lives, and left thousands of people homeless. After the hurricane and floods, experts estimated the damage cost state-wide to be around $1.3 Billion, but weeks later that rose to $6 Billion, as stunned experts saw the extent of the disaster. People were warned not to drink or bathe in the water from taps, due to fear it was contaminated. One year after.
5. The death toll was reduced in hurricane Floyd because 2.5million people were evacuated. The Federal emergency management agency, gives every family in a hurricane prone states tips and advice on how to cope during any potential disaster. All hurricane prone states in the USA have building codes to construct hurricane proof buildings. Survivors of hurricane Floyd.
