Flood — Lenoir, North Carolina

2016-10-13 · near Mays Store, Lenoir, North Carolina

Event narrative

Woman drove around barricades and into washed out road and drowned. The flooding was a result of heavy rain after Hurricane Matthew.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Matthew moved northeast offshore of the North Carolina coast late on October 8th through October 9th. Widespread heavy rain developed on October 8th and continued through early on October 9th as Matthew approached and moved offshore of the coast. Rainfall ranged from 2 to 4 inches on the southern beaches to 8 to 12 inches inland. This rain led to significant flash flooding over much of eastern North Carolina during the afternoon of October 8th through the morning of October 9th. Many roads were washed out and impassable for days from the serious flash flooding. Devastating river flooding then occurred several days after Matthew as most main-stem rivers exceeded major flood levels. Strong winds of 40 to 60 mph inland and 60 to 80 mph along the coast occurred as Matthew passed offshore mainly during the evening of October 8th through the morning of the 9th. These winds led to numerous downed trees and power lines across the region with widespread power outages that lasted several days in some areas. Storm surge inundation was mainly 1 to 3 feet above ground level along the coast, however inundation of 3 to 5 feet above ground level was observed on the sound side of the Outer Banks.

There were six confirmed fatalities across the area with five in Lenoir County and one in Pitt County. Dollar damages totals have not been completed but will likely exceed 200 million dollars with significant agricultural losses.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.2950, -77.7600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 666045. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.