EF0 tornado in Sampson County, North Carolina

A tornado associated with tropical cylcone Florence touched

down during the early morning of September 17th, just southeast

of Roseboro. This tornado continued on the ground for roughly 13

minutes mostly impacting trees, farm buildings, and eventually a

car dealership within the city of Roseboro. The storm continued to

weaken as it pushed northwest, crossing highway 24, and

continuing to produce intermittent tree damage prior to lifting

southwest of Salemburg. Property damages were estimated.

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.