Flash Flood — Scotland, North Carolina

2018-09-15 to 2018-09-17 · near Wagram, Scotland, North Carolina

Event narrative

Torrential rainfall of 10 to 15 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. Numerous roads throughout the county were closed, due to flooding. Highway 15-501 was impassable north of Laurinburg. Several homes and businesses were flooded as well. At least 20 people were rescued from flood waters in the Stonewall Road and Pelham Drive area. A 73-year-old man and a 65-year-old man died after their cars were submerged. They were in separate cars.

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.8869, -79.3723)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 786266. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.