Strong Wind — Wake, North Carolina

2016-10-08 · Wake, North Carolina

Event narrative

Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Wake County, including on homes, cars, and power lines. Over 100,000 customers lost power in Wake County as a result of the strong winds. One fatality occurred due to a tree falling on a car near Sunset Lake as an individual was driving home.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Matthew skirted by the North Carolina coast on October 8, 2016, dropping torrential rainfall of 8 to 15 inches and producing wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph across Central and Eastern North Carolina. The large swath of 8 to 15 inches of rain across Eastern and Central North Carolina, caused devastating and life threatening flash flooding, that evolved into major and record setting river flooding along portions of the Neuse, Cape Fear, and Tar river basins.

Matthew's inland flood waters resulted in 11 direct fatalities within the WFO RAH CWA, approximately $686 million in property damage to flooded homes and businesses, and $150 million in crop damage. Countless roads and highways were underwater, along with with numerous roads washed out, including sections of Interstates 95 and 40. Besides the 11 direct fatalities, at least 3 indirect fatalities also occurred.

In addition, the associated strong wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph resulted in 1 fatality, when a tree fell onto a moving vehicle. Finally, the associated EF-1 tornado in Wayne County resulted in $75 thousand in property damage.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 662031. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.