Tuesday, August 24, 1999:
Tropical
Storm Dennis forms some 225 miles southeast of the Bahamas. Monday, August 30:
Hurricane Dennis,
packing winds of 105 mph, moves to within 70 miles of the North Carolina
coast. Steady rains begin to fall across the coastal counties.
Wednesday, September 1:
Hurricane Dennis
is downgraded to a tropical storm as it drifts erratically off the coast
of Cape Hatteras. Large waves and severe erosion batter the Outer Banks,
ultimately overwashing NC 12 and isolating hundreds of residents on
Hatteras Island.
Saturday, September
4:
Tropical Storm Dennis finally turns and comes ashore
near Cape Lookout. It tracks inland and dissipates over the central
region of the state, spreading heavy rainfall across a broad area.
Ocracoke receives more than 19 inches of rain for the week, while
reports from other stations range from 6 to 10 inches.
Tuesday, September 7:
Tropical
depression that will become Floyd is first detected in the eastern
Atlantic, some 1,000 miles from the Lesser Antilles.
Monday, September 13:
Hurricane Floyd
reaches its meteorological peak about 300 miles east of the central
Bahamas, with a barometric low of 27.20 inches and maximum sustained
winds of 155 mph. A hurricane watch is issued for Florida's southeastern
counties and is later extended northward and upgraded to hurricane
warning. Massive coastal evacuations begin in Florida and eventually
extend up the East Coast through Virginia--the largest evacuation event
in U.S. history.
Wednesday, September
15:
Hurricane Floyd moves toward North Carolina as a
category-two storm, unleashing heavy rains along much of the U.S. East
Coast. Wilmington, North Carolina, sets a new twenty-four-hour rainfall
record of 15.06 inches.
Thursday, September
16:
Floyd makes landfall near Cape Fear at 3:00 a.m. and
delivers a ten-foot storm surge to Oak Island. The storm center tracks
across eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. Flash floods
caused by heavy downpours begin affecting several river basins, forcing
thousands of residents to flee their homes. Heroic rescues begin in the
predawn hours and continue throughout the day. Most of the fifty-two
fatalities reported in North Carolina occur on this day.
Friday, September 17:
Rescue operations
continue for a second straight day in several eastern counties. By
midafternoon, nearly 1,500 stranded people have been picked up by
helicopter. The Tar River in Rocky Mount crests at 32.35 feet, an
all-time record high.
Saturday, September
18:
Search-and-rescue teams continue to fan out across
submerged communities in search of the missing. Emergency shelters fill
to capacity, and relief stations offering food and clothing are at peak
demand.
Monday, September 20:
President Bill Clinton tours the flood-ravaged areas of North Carolina
and stops to meet with residents in Tarboro. The Tar River crests in
Tarboro at the same time, reaching a new record level of 41.51 feet.
Tuesday, September 21:
The
remnants of Tropical Storm Harvey move across portions of North
Carolina, bringing an additional three inches of rain to some flooded
areas. The Tar River crests in Greenville at 29.72 feet, establishing a
new record for that location.
Thursday,
September 23:
The Neuse River crests at 27.71 feet in
Kinston, establishing a new record for that location.
Friday, September 24:
Special disaster
mortuary teams round up floating coffins dislodged from grave sites near
Princeville.
Sunday, September
26:
Flood waters begin to recede in Princeville.
Tuesday, September 28:
Over a
two-day period, portions of eastern North Carolina receive up to eight
inches of additional rain from a passing low-pressure system.
Wednesday, September 29:
Classes resume
at East Carolina University. The Reverend Jesse Jackson visits
Princeville and tells residents, <"Sometimes God takes us low just to
lift us up."
Thursday, September
30:
Two weeks after Hurricane Floyd made landfall, more
than 8,000 North Carolinians remain without electricity.
Sunday, October 3:
A six-hour telethon
sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters raises $2.2
million for hurricane relief. Ultimately Governor Jim Hunt's Floyd
Disaster Fund raises over $19 million.
Tuesday, October 5:
Governor Hunt
travels to Washington, D.C., to convince Congress to provide $5.5
billion in aid for North Carolina. Congress will end up providing less
than half of the amount initially requested by Hunt.
Saturday, October 9:
Eight-year-old
Brandon Davis becomes the flood's forty-ninth fatality in North
Carolina. He is killed when his father attempts to drive on a flooded
road where a bridge had washed away.
Monday,
October 18:
Hurricane Irene skirts the North Carolina
coast and delivers an additional four to six inches of rain over many of
the already flooded eastern counties.
Monday,
November 8:
Benjamin Harrison becomes the last of the
fifty-two fatalities recorded in North Carolina when his body is found
in a Nash County quarry.
Friday, November
19:
Sixteen homes in Farmville are purchased as part of
FEMA's buyout program, the first of thousands of such purchases of
flood-prone properties.
Monday, November
22:
The Princeville town council votes three to two in
favor of rebuilding the town's dike. FEMA had offered to buy out the
entire town, but this vote led the way toward reconstruction of the dike
in an effort to preserve the community intact.
Tuesday, November 23:
Governor Hunt
establishes the Hurricane Floyd Redevelopment Center and names Billy Ray
Hall as director. Hunt also calls a special session of the General
Assembly, which leads to the appropriation of $836 million in
state-funded disaster assistance.
Tuesday,
February 29, 2000:
FEMA reports that 86,954 people have
registered for disaster assistance.
Friday,
June 30:
Reconstruction of Princeville's dike is
completed.
March 2001:
State
officials announce that $821.6 million of the original $836-million
state flood relief appropriation has been "spent, applied for, or
otherwise obligated."
August
2002:
Thirty families are asked to leave their FEMA
trailers near Tarboro, almost three years after Hurricane Floyd forced
them from their homes. The government-funded trailers were initially
intended to house flood victims for up to eighteen months, but the
deadline for ending the program was extended several times.
