Summary Report: Hurricane Floyd Symposium

Abstract

On the morning of Thursday, September 16, 1999, Hurricane Floyd made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Rains associated with Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd, and Irene resulted in extensive flooding over a two-month period in eastern North Carolina, with most river basins exceeding the 500-year flood level. Flooding was worst along the Tar River, leaving the towns of Rocky Mount, Tarboro, Princeville, Greenville, and Washington devastated. In North Carolina, Floyd was directly responsible for 35 fatalities and several billions of dollars in property damages. This publication provides a summary of the presentations in the public forum and the research conference.

The value of an endeavor like the symposium comes from how the information shapes the way we move forward. Therefore, this publication also serves as a benchmark so that we can measure our progress on hurricane risk mitigation.