Tropical Storm — Cumberland, North Carolina

2018-09-13 to 2018-09-15 · Cumberland, North Carolina

Event narrative

Frequent wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Cumberland County, including on homes, cars, power lines and damage to structures. Numerous customers lost power in Cumberland County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

A husband and wife died (indirect) in a house fire. The couple was using candles and lanterns, due to a loss of power.

Wider weather episode

A ridge of high pressure over eastern North America stalled Florence's forward motion a few miles off the southeast North Carolina coast on September 13th. Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach early on Saturday September 15, and weakened further as it moved slowly inland. Despite making landfall as a weakened

Category 1 hurricane, Florence still produced 40 to 70 mph wind gusts, enough wind speed to uproot trees and cause widespread power outages throughout the Carolinas. As the storm moved inland, from September 15 to 17, heavy rain of 10 to 25 inches caused widespread inland flooding, inundating cities such as Fayetteville, Smithfield, Goldsboro, Durham, and Chapel Hill, and causing major river flooding on main-stem rivers such as the Neuse, Cape Fear, and Little River. Most major roads and highways in the area experienced some flooding, with large stretches of I-40 and I-95 remaining impassable for days after the storm had passed. The storm also spawned tornadoes in several places along its path. There were 3 direct and 6 indirect deaths attributed to the storm with in the WFO RAH CWA.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 785715. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.