Flood — Washington, North Carolina

2010-09-29 to 2010-09-30 · near Scuppernong, Washington, North Carolina

Event narrative

Several days of very heavy rain led to widespread flooding across Washington County. Numerous small streams flooded causing many acres of crops to be damaged. High water did minor damage to a few homes along Highway 64 from near Plymouth to Scuppernong. Five deaths, near Creswell on the 30th, were directly attributed to the flooding. The crash occurred on U.S. 64, west of Creswell, just after noon. The vehicle hydroplaned on the highway, then went off the right side of the road. The vehicle then ran down a small hill, hit an embankment and flipped over into a flooded canal where the occupants drowned.

Wider weather episode

A stalled front across eastern North Carolina combined with a deep southerly flow of very moist air led to several days of torrential rain across eastern North Carolina from September 27th through the 30th. The remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole also lifted north along the coast during the afternoon and evening of September 30th dropping very heavy rain. Rainfall totals over the region ranged from 6 to 8 inches over the Outer Banks to 12 to 20 inches over the main-land areas. This very heavy rain led to significant flooding across most of the region especially low lying areas and along small streams. There were also reports of strong winds along the coast during the afternoon and evening of September 30th as the remnants of Nicole lifted north across the area. Five people died in Washington County as a direct result of the flooding on the 30th. One tornado was reported during the late evening of September 29th just southwest of Plymouth. Total damages from flooding across the area were estimated at 72.3 million dollars, with 69.6 million due to agricultural losses.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.9180, -76.3845)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 260347. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.