Hurricane Florence, a large and slow moving category one hurricane, made landfall during the morning of September 14, 2018. After the eye crossed Wrightsville Beach, NC at 7:15 a.m. the storm spent the next two days producing record-breaking rainfall across eastern North Carolina and a portion of northeastern South Carolina. Over 30 inches of rain were measured in a few North Carolina locations, exceeding the highest single-storm rainfall amounts ever seen in this portion of the state. A station in Loris, SC recorded 23.63 inches rain, setting a new state tropical cyclone rainfall record for the state of South Carolina. Record river flooding developed over the next several days along the Cape Fear, Northeast Cape Fear, Lumberton, and Waccamaw Rivers, destroying roads and damaging thousands of homes and businesses. A USGS report indicated nine river gauges reported floods exceeding their 1-in-500 year expected return intervals. Although Florence will be remembered primarily for its record-breaking flooding, wind gusts over 100 mph caused significant damage to buildings, trees, and electrical service across the Cape Fear area, and a storm surge of over four feet eroded beaches and damaged property between Cape Fear and Cape Lookout. The state of North Carolina reported 42 fatalities due to the hurricane and preliminary damage estimates of $16.7 billion. An estimated 74,563 structures were flooded and 5,214 people were reportedly rescued from flooding. Nearly 140,000 North Carolinians registered for disaster assistance after the storm. South Carolina Emergency Management reported 9 fatalities across the state; $607 million damage; 11,386 homes with moderate or major damage; 455,000 people evacuated, and 11 dams breached or failed. LEAVE A TIP: https://streamelements.com/carolinawxgroup/tip SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST: https://anchor.fm/carolinaweather SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://patreon.com/carolinaweathergroup VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://carolinaweathergroup.com

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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