High-Precipitation Storms, Hurricanes, and Landfalls in a Western North Carolina Coastal Region during the 19th Century

When a storm gets powerful quickly, it’s called rapid intensification by scientists. Such rapid intensification is relatively normal for major hurricanes that form in the Atlantic, according to federal hurricane data. For example, every Category 5 hurricane that hit the United States in the last century was a tropical storm three days earlier, according to Ken Graham, the director of the National Weather Service.

While many climate models suggest storms will gain strength more quickly as the Earth gets hotter, it is not certain if that trend is already underway. It’s an active area of research.

Along with floods, the persistent rains have created landslide conditions in western North Carolina, as member station WFAE reported. The National Weather Prediction Center has forecast 6 to 12 inches for the region, well above the landslide condition threshold for the area.

The storm dumped more than 8 inches of rain in Wilmington and wrought serious damage to coastal homes and small buildings, as well as agricultural fields.

The rain totals for Busick on Friday afternoon were almost three times the amount seen in Mount Mitchell State Park, 55 miles away.

Atlanta received its highest 48-hour precipitation on record over the course of the past two days. The Georgia Climate Office tweeted on Friday that the area has already seen 11.12 inches of rain, beating a previous record of 9.59 set in 1886. In the 19th century record keeping began.

Unusually heavy winds of up to 140 mph were observed on land in North Carolina, the strongest winds recorded there since the start of modern meteorological recordkeeping in the 19th century.

There have been many deaths in several states as a result of the storm. As emergency rescue crews comb through the wreckage, officials in several states said they expected the number of storm-related deaths to climb.

The high winds and tornadoes were also blamed for several deaths. One person died when a falling sign fell onto the highway. A tree fell on a home, killing a person.

In Tennessee, over 50 patients and staff were stuck on the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, as floodwaters rose on Friday morning. They were rescued by the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service released an urgent warning through Friday afternoon urging anyone below the Lake Lure Dam near Ashville to evacuate immediately to higher ground, after concerns that the nearly century-old dam could fail.

Brigadier General Daniel Hibner with the Army Corps of Engineers said dam failures are to be expected in flash flooding events like this one. “It’s not uncommon to see a dam failure in an event like this,” he said at a press briefing. I would be surprised if there were not many failures in this area.

As of Friday evening, the dam remained intact. In a 6 p.m. ET update on social media, Rutherford County officials said the lake’s water levels were beginning to recede.

State of the Southeast Aftermath of a Category 4 Florida Hurricane: Flooding and Flooding in the Soon-To-Begin Southwest

More than 4 million homes and businesses were without power on Friday afternoon in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to poweroutage.us. By nightfall, that number had dipped to about 3.7 million.

The consumer safety officials said people should keep generators 20 feet away from the house to avoid poisoning from carbon monoxide. There were more deaths attributed to the misuse of portable generators than the storm itself.

The storm surge was more than five feet along the Gulf Coast of Florida. Andrew Swan, 31, rode out the storm in Madeira Beach, Fla., watching over a friend’s house. He said the water rushed into his chest and he spent the night sleeping on a kitchen counter.

While the worst of the storm is over for many in the Southeast, officials are warning residents to stay vigilant in its aftermath amid hazardous conditions, such as flooded and debris-strewn roads.

Preliminary post-landfall modeling showed the storm surge reached 15 feet above ground level in the Big Bend area near Keaton Beach, Steinhatchee and Horseshoe Beach, the National Weather Service said.

In an evening update from the National Hurricane Center, maximum sustained winds were moving at 25 mph. The storm made landfall Thursday night in Florida’s Big Bend region — the nexus of the Panhandle and peninsula in the state’s northwest — as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.

“The expected slow motion could result in significant flooding over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and over the southern Appalachians through the weekend,” the center said in a late morning update.

Life-threatening flooding and landslides in parts of southern Appalachia were expected to continue into the evening, the National Hurricane Center said.

According to forecasters, the flooding in the southeast was still continuing after the winds died down on Friday evening.