Flash Flood in New Hanover County, North Carolina

Gordon road impassable due to flooding. Middle Sound Loop washed out the the Anchors Bend Marina. High water reported at Holly Shelter Road and Blue Clay. Wood Sorrell Rd closed due to flooding. In Wilmington, 16th St had collapsed at Greenfield St. Road closed. A business was washed out at 12th and Market St. Kerr Ave was washed out at Bavarian Lane. The ramps at the interchange of I-40 and I-140 were flooded and impassable. A sink hole four feet deep was reported at the intersection of Red Cedar Rd and Hawk Rd.

Hurricane Florence began its long Atlantic trek from the Cape Verde Islands in early September. It made landfall near Wrightsville Beach during the morning of September 14th. The barometric pressure at landfall was 959 millibars, or 28.32 inches.The strongest winds were recorded at 106 mph at Cape Lookout, as well as 105 mph measured at the Wilmington International Airport. In addition to the strong storm surge, there was historic rainfall totals of 20 to 25 inches, with isolated totals of 35 inches in parts of Bladen and Robeson counties. Flash Flooding was severe and widespread, with many communities experiencing flooding for the first time. River flooding was epic, with dozens of main highways impassible. Significant flooding occurred for weeks after the storm had departed. The hurricane spawned 19 tornadoes, one causing significant damage to 8 structures in the Sydney community in Columbus county. The community at Lake Waccamaw experienced more damage than Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the previous benchmark for the area. In Pender County, over 6000 structures had damage, with 2800 structures suffered major damage or were destroyed altogether. Damage estimates from wind and water are in the tens of billions of dollars, making it one of the costliest hurricanes ever.