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Flooding in North Carolina after Hurricane Matthew
Matthew’s aftermath compared to Hurricane Floyd, which caused $3 billion in damage and destroyed 7,000 homes.
Staff on October 11, 2016
Volunteer firefighters, U.S. Marshals and water rescue teams were focused on rescuing about 1,500 people in North Carolina who were trapped due to flood waters brought on by Hurricane Matthew.
The hurricane killed more than 500 people in Haiti and at least 23 in the U.S. – nearly half of them in North Carolina. At least three people were missing.
In addition to the 14 storm-related deaths in North Carolina, there were five in Florida and three each in Georgia and South Carolina. One death was reported in Virginia.
The full extent of the disaster in North Carolina was still unclear, but it appeared that thousands of homes were damaged, and more were in danger of flooding.
In many areas, Matthew’s aftermath was compared to Hurricane Floyd, which caused $3 billion in damage and destroyed 7,000 homes as it skirted the coast in 1999.
Officials were concerned that other cities could suffer the fate of Lumberton, North Carolina, a community of 22,000 people about 80 miles from the ocean. With electricity cut off in the storm’s wake, there was virtually no gasoline, water or food for sale.
The Lumber River crested 4 feet above its record level Sunday in Lumberton and was forecast to remain there until Saturday. A levee appeared to fail early Monday, but officials later concluded that floodwaters had flowed around it.
River flooding was happening elsewhere. In the tiny town of Nichols, South Carolina, downstream from Lumberton, at least 100 people spent the night on the third floor of the town hall.
Authorities in coastal Georgia and South Carolina warned residents it may take days or even weeks to restore electricity and clean up all the debris. People who tried to go home but were blocked by authorities who said the damage was still too severe grew increasingly frustrated.
Matthew’s flooding in North Carolina was made worse by heavy rains in September. Many areas east of I-95 got at least twice their normal amount of rain in September, in part because the remnants of Tropical Storm Julia parked off the coast for several days.
Flooding in North Carolina after Hurricane Matthew
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