Storm: Hurricane Florence And Its Impact On The Carolinas

downloadDownload
  • Words 1433
  • Pages 3
Download PDF

Introduction

Hurricanes are known for their potentially destructive nature, and with that comes an economic impact that can halt the productivity of most coastal cities . The east coast of the United States is especially prone to major hurricanes, which is made evident ever year a storm affects the region. According to the official information published by the National Weather Service office in Newport/Morehead City, NC (2018), Hurricane Florence was the first major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Typical to Atlantic season hurricanes, this storm originated as a disturbance that moved off the western coast of Africa. This hurricane achieved category four status on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. An exceptional feature to Florence was its persistence along the shore, allowing the hurricane to dump record-breaking rainfall on the Carolinas. This torrential, long-lasting rain was more than enough to name Florence the wettest tropical cyclone on record for the Carolinas (National Weather Service – Newport/Morehead City, NC, 2019).

Analysis And Data

During the final two days of August 2018, a weak disturbance moved off the coast of western Africa just south of the Cape Verde islands . This region is a common birthplace for many tropical storms in the Atlantic. Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, this tropical wave strengthened to tropical depression status. As the depression continued to organize, the storm achieved tropical storm strength and was officially named Florence during the morning hours of September 1st (National Weather Service – Wilmington, NC, 2019).

Click to get a unique essay

Our writers can write you a new plagiarism-free essay on any topic

Given the synoptic environment and the warm ocean waters at the time of development, Florence quickly developed into a major hurricane. The storm moved across the Atlantic, maintaining a track to the west northwest. On September 5th, winds reached 130 miles per hour while still over open waters. At the time, Florence seemed to pose a tremendous threat to the Atlantic coast, but this was short-lived. Due to a shift in the synoptic conditions, Florence began to weaken as increased southwesterly shear took a toll on the storms ability to remain organized. The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm once again on September 7th, but only briefly. A few days later, the storm would regain strength (National Hurricane Center, 2018).

The system began to move into an atmosphere that was more conducive for tropical storms, which began to strengthen Florence again – allowing the storm to regain hurricane status on September 9th. This synoptic environment had less shear to slow down or ruin the storm organization, and the ocean waters were much warmer in this area almost 1000 miles southeast of Bermuda. One day later, the hurricane had reached a maximum sustained wind speed of 140 miles per hour, maintaining its strength until September 11th. This second period of intensification would end as the atmospheric conditions began to deteriorate on September 12th. The wind shear profile was no longer favorable once again, and the intrusion of dry air into the inner core of the hurricane weakened Florence (NWS Wilmington, 2019).

The conditions of the atmosphere remained mediocre for further intensification as Florence began to approach the Carolinas. The track of the storm shifted to the north north-west as this hurricane continued straight toward the eastern coast. On Friday morning, September 14th, Florence officially made landfall on Wrightsville Beach. This hurricane continued into the barrier islands of Wilmington, North Carolina as a strong category one hurricane with maximum sustained winds approaching ninety miles per hour. As with all hurricanes, Florence began to weaken even further as the core of the storm moved inland (NWS Newport, 2019).

Despite the diminishing strength of the hurricane, the impact of the storm was far from over. Florence continued to dump record-breaking, torrential rain along the border of North and South Carolina for days as the storm slowly pushed into the coast. Along with this historic flooding came category one force winds, nine to thirteen feet of storm surge, and the development of many weak tornadoes within the stronger rain bands of the hurricane. From landfall to September 17th, many cities along the North Carolinian coast would see total precipitation amounts of one to two feet, with some cities like Elizabethtown approaching three feet of rainfall. The highest wind gust recorded during the entire event was at the Wilmington International Airport at 105 miles per hour. Along with this maximum wind gust, the airport also recorded the lowest pressure associated with Florence at 958.3 mb. As far as tornado reports go, there were seventeen brief tornado touchdowns of EF-0 and EF-1 strength in both North and South Carolina combined (NWS Newport, 2019).

The Impact Of Florence

Any region that deals with up to three feet of rainfall within three days will face many issues regarding flash flooding and river flooding. Because of Florence, a very incredible and historic flooding situation was unfolding for the Carolinas. According to the National Weather Service out of Raleigh, the amount of water that fell across the entire state of North Carolina was equivalent to a little over eight trillion gallons. This was measured using the average rainfall over the state from landfall to September 17th. South Carolina, while not hit directly by the storm, had many cities with recorded rainfall amounts approaching two feet.

Many rivers in North Carolina reached record flood stage. The worst of which included Cape Fear, Lumberton, and Waccamaw Rivers, cresting at thirty feet, eighteen feet, and twenty feet respectively. Roads, homes, and businesses were destroyed by the flood waters, and the electric grid in North Carolina especially suffered. According to a report from the USGS, nine river gauges within the state exceeded their 1-in-500-year flood return intervals. The barrier islands along Cape Fear were eroded and properties along the islands were damaged by the storm surge (NWS Wilmington, 2019).

North Carolina reported nearly seventeen billion dollars’ worth of damage from all the impacts of Florence. A breakdown of the damage is as follows: nearly 75,000 structures were flooded, and 5,000 people were rescued from these structures; around 140,000 North Carolinians received disaster assistance after the storm. The state also reported forty-two fatalities because of the hurricane. For South Carolina, it was reported that they suffered $607 million in damages from Florence. Nearly 12,000 homes were damaged with 455,000 people evacuated out of the state. South Carolina reported 9 fatalities as well (NWS Wilmington, 2019).

An article from CNBC news mentions how JPMorgan was especially concerned about the local economic impact Florence would have on the Carolinas. The bank was not worried about an impact on the total US economy; the impact of Florence on the Carolinas would be reflected in September’s jobs report as “modest distortions.” The agricultural sector that operates within North and South Carolina was also concerned about the hurricane’s landfall. Many industries that play a huge role in the region’s economy are sensitive to storms like Florence. Some of the agriculture regarding corn, soybean, tobacco, and cotton productions contribute to the states’ “diverse crop economy”, all of which face destruction from potential flood waters. Farmers were particularly concerned about cotton, as this time of year is approaching harvest season. The article goes on to mention that the business associated with agriculture in North Carolina alone is worth upwards of seventy-six billion dollars (Gillies, Trent, and Javier E. David, 2018).

Conclusion

It has been well over six months since Florence made landfall. Many organizations such as FEMA and the Red Cross have been assisting with recovery efforts in both states. Their aid is still being used to this day in helping countries across the North Carolinian coast. The governor of the state mentioned that around twelve million dollars in grant funds will be utilized to aid in crisis counseling services (Bullock, 2019). Rebuilding and clean up has already been well underway, but the emotional impact Florence had on the people of the Carolinas is still ongoing. With the next Atlantic hurricane season just around the corner, both states will need to be prepared for another disaster.

Bibliography

  1. Bullock, Clint. ‘Cooper Announces $12.2M in Crisis Counseling for Florence Survivors.’ Http://www.wect.com. April 12, 2019. Accessed April 13, 2019. http://www.wect.com/2019/04/12/cooper-announces-m-crisis-counseling-florence- survivors/.
  2. Gillies, Trent, and Javier E. David. ‘Why Even a Weakened Hurricane Florence Is Still a Threat to North, South Carolina’s Economy.’ CNBC. September 15, 2018. Accessed April 10, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/15/hurricane-florence-is-still-a-threat-to-north- south-carolina.html.
  3. National Hurricane Center. Hurricane FLORENCE Advisory Archive. Accessed April 08, 2019. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2018/FLORENCE.shtml.
  4. National Weather Service – Newport/Morehead City, NC. ‘Historical Hurricane Florence, September 12-15, 2018,’ National Weather Service, January 10, 2019, accessed April 06, 2019, https://www.weather.gov/mhx/Florence2018.
  5. National Weather Service – Wilmington, NC. ‘Hurricane Florence: September 14, 2018.’ National Weather Service. March 31, 2019. Accessed April 06, 2019. https://www.weather.gov/ilm/HurricaneFlorence.

image

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.