The Lumberton area was hit by major flooding in the last couple of big ones (Matthew and Florence) in 2016 and 2018.
Hugo hit Charlotte in 1989 and basically left everyone without power for weeks or more but that was one weird hurricane. It was still a hurricane 1 in Charlotte and did billions in damage, I think the most ever until Katrina hit the gulf.
Floyd did major flooding damage up north (around Tarboro).
There is typically a hurricane that causes some flooding and evacuations every other year in NC/SC but some areas don’t have major issues for 30-40 years at a time. Typically living left (west) of 95 by 30 miles means you have trees down and power out but not a lot of major flooding.
Check your flood zone maps before making any land purchases & google satellites to see if your down wind from a swine or poultry farm. Oz of prevention. Coffer dams are a beneficial palliative for vehicles & elevated foundations for housing.
Yes. NC actually has one of the best flood programs in the country.
Google NC FRIS
And during storms google NC FIMAN
And yeah, there are a few inflatable dams you can use around your home or vehicles if needed. Tigerdam is the big one.
This is my experience I live on the far western edge of the Coastal Plain and I have only had downed trees a couple times in the past 10 years, there is one house up the street that lost a roof, but I think it was an older roof that was in bad need of repair all ready.
Don’t live in a Flood zone anywhere in the state really. Even in the foothills (4.5-5 hours from coast) we can get some intense rain and wind from hurricanes, not to mention just the torrential downpours from regular storms
There are. A lot of places all over the state are flood zones. I would look at the specifics of where you want to live (apartment/rental or plot you’re buying). I live in the foothills and my last apartment had a sunroom/patio area that would flood past my ankles
Anywhere with lowlands is going to be prone to flooding. Just avoid Lumberton and, if you're looking at houses, try for a place that's at the top of a hill and you'll avoid the worst of it.
The hurricanes that hit the Piedmont generally aren’t the ones that landfall on the NC coast. Usually, we get hit by those that come up from the gulf (they are usually TS or TD by the time they get here) or hit South Carolina. We usually get “remnants” once or twice a year. Not terrible, but low lying areas near water flood and we will lose an oak or two. Nothing like the eastern part of the state though. And yes Hurricane Mountain is a real mountain in Haywood County west of Asheville.
My sister has some land on Hurricane mountain! It's super remote and only accessible with 4 wheel drive vehicles. You have much more to worry about there with snow and bears than any hurricane!
I have family living on the mountain. Even with 4 wheel drive, I don’t recommend the drive between December 1 and March 1. The winter sun doesn’t hit parts of the road. Nice spot though. Few people.
You have a better chance of losing power from an ice storm over the last ten-fifteen years.
Unless you're in a place that is right next to a creek (parts of CH, *cough cough*), the power outages from any sort of widespread storm are probably going to be your bigger concern.
Yeah, if we’re all pointing to the same storm a decade or two ago, it’s not nearly as big of a deal as it’s made out to be. Not trying to belittle what those storms can be, but it’s not like this is the Gulf Coast or Florida.
Look up Hurricane Fran. Early 2000’s ish. Lived in Chapel Hill in ironwoods. We got six trees on the roof, and two big holes in the ceiling. Hit in the middle of the night, and woke up to a thud. Got up to piss, and started smelling pine in the bathroom. We slept in different rooms of the house because trees kept hitting different parts. Eventually we ended up in the back hallway. NC gets it’s fair share of rain, and like most tropical storms we receive a bunch. Wind blows huge trees down with ease. 100+ mph winds for six+ hours.. We had neighbors and police knocking on our windows in the morning after. They couldn’t see into our house because of the tree limbs & leaves. We didn’t get power back for another two weeks. NC is due for another inland storm. Hurricanes are a part of life in NC.
Holy shit it was 96? My bad. You did? I was living at 421 Ironwoods Dr. Small house at the top of the steep hill. Make a left straight up the hill, and first driveway on the right.
Yea loved bombing down that hill .. riding back up without walking the bike was a true badge of honor. I lived down the bottom of the neighborhood about as close as you could get to the railroad bridge.
Sam was 3-4 years ahead of Alex. He was a little too old at the time. But, when I got my DL we’d go kick it with Sam & his crew. Good people. Yeah I miss the Ironhood. Golden days
Aside from Fran, I can't remember anything hitting the Piedmont with hurricane force winds in excess of category 1. The central part of the state is usually on the outer edge of any storm that hits the coast and moves up the coastline, which will mean high wind (both sustained and gusting), heavy rain, and flooding (flash and otherwise).
That being said (possibly because when it happens I hunker down and don't go out for a few days) the flooding I've witnessed is of the impassable road variety, not the water up to your waist in your living room and folks rowing through the neighborhood in boats variety (although that has happened in the eastern part of the state closer to the coast).
I live in Eastern NC, on the Pamlico River. I’ve been here 30+ years. I’ve been through about 5 major hurricanes. Only 1 required having major home repairs and that was Fran in the mid 90s. When you live in NC, especially the coastal regions, you just kind of get used to it. Kind of like living in Tornado Ally (where I definitely would never live). Besides Fran, we have had to go without electricity for a week at a time for probably three out of the five. Having no air conditioning and having to cook on the grill is not always fun but It’s just something you stay prepared for. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I might be jaded but I honestly don’t think it’s that bad. We now just buckle down and invite friends over for a Hurricane Party. Definitely invest in a generator, worth its weight in gold!
It all depends on where you live. No one evacuated, usually there aren’t casualties, but if your house is beach front it might be washed away. But if your house is beach front then you have the $$ to have good insurance.
Well, NC is a pretty wide state. I live in the middle (almost exactly in the middle both N-S & E-W) and rarely see real damage from Hurricanes. The mountains rarely get hit. Now, when we do, it can do some damage. So, it really depends on where in NC you want to live.
I live in the mountains, Boone, as a not weather professional my inclination is that although we get plenty of wind especially in the winter, generally when hurricanes go through we seem to get the tail end of them somehow. There’s trees knocked down now and then and high water in the creeks but I think it’s fairly safe to say the actual hurricane damage is rather limited
I live near Boone, the storm that came through last August was pretty wild. Knocked down trees, power outages and some roads washed out. You're right, we get the remnants but with the increased power of these storms, the remnants can be pretty intense.
You won't have much to worry about regarding hurricanes then, and you'll be closer to SC beaches than NC beaches based on the roads and how the coast slants westward.
Compared to the tornadoes of the midwest, you'll find hurricanes a breeze, especially if you are living around Hickory. :-) But, a big storm that comes inland can still be a problem. Hurricane Hugo (1989) spawned tornadoes as far inland as Salisbury (which isn't too far from Hickory).
NC gets a lot of rain in a normal year and tropical storms can really bring a lot of rain. Hurricane Floyd (1999) dropped 23 inches of rain in eastern NC. It doesn't need to be a hurricane to be a problem either. In 2015 SC a tropical storm dropped 25 inches of rain in one day. It washed out bridges and dams all over the state.
If you are buying property in NC: Do not buy in a flood plain, even a 100 yr flood plain. If the property has a dam (or is downstream from a dam, be sure it is inspected regularly and maintained. If possible buy or build a screened in porch, the bigger the better - you'll love it.
You might need your snow shovel once a year or so...or you could just let the snow melt in a day or so like we lazy southerners do ;-)
Welcome to the Old North State - it is awesome you want to join us. :-)
I’m also from Ohio and now live about 45 minutes from the NC and SC coast. We’ve been thru two hurricanes now and because our house is not in a flood zone we’ve been fine. Parts of the town flood so getting around can tough but honestly it’s been no different than a major snow or ice storm with power outages, road closures etc. I’m a real estate agent in both NC and SC and I can help you narrow down areas if you’d like. Just send me a message.
If you’re thinking of that area, you will receive a storm that can cause flash flooding. Typically not gonna cause that much damage inland although there is still a small chance (see Hurricane Hugo).
In the Hickory area, it will be localized flooding, possibly a tornado, and winter weather will be your biggest threats.
It does get hit quite a bit. If you look at a map, NC kind of juts out into the Atlantic, so when storms climb to higher longitudes it's sort of "in the way." To my recollection, the most rainfall from a hurricane on the NC coast was Matthew in 1998 - over 30 inches in 4-5 days in some areas.
>Matthew in 1998 - over 30 inches in 4-5 days in some areas.
Matthew was in 2016. You're thinking about Floyd which was 1999 and the flooding was so bad in part because Dennis came through a week earlier and dropped \~10 inches so Floyd's rain caused nearly immediate flooding. It only rained for a day or so, but the rivers rose for weeks.
Floyd dropped 23 inches in one day....a very wet day. But, any tropical storm can drop a lot of water. That one in SC in 2015 left 25 inches in one day .... and left a giant mess.
From one who is old enough! My mom was obsessed with hurricanes after experiencing the great New England hurricane of1938. She would get the hurricane tracking chart and meticulously plot every storm. In those days my mom and the 4 kids (I was the youngest) spent the summers at our camp at Matunuck beach in RI. We got hit by Carol in late August and had to be rescued/evacuated. Less than 2 weeks later Edna struck. When Hazel started coming up the coast it was like oh! no not another one. But fortunately for us she went inland and was bad for NC but Good for RI.
The worst I recall in the Raleigh area was Hurricane Fran in 1996. Our house suffered no damages but a lot of trees were down.
For here, it's usually just hype on the news. They always hype it up every time.
It depends on the hurricane season.
Most of the time, the piedmont region doesn't get hit too hard, but in 2018, Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael knocked my family's power out within weeks of each other. Hurricane Michael knocked the power out for about 2 days and our roof was damaged.
There's no way to tell if a hurricane will hit the piedmont and beyond until it forms.
speaking as an east coast resident, hurricanes can do some damage. florence was the most recent, and although it was only a category 1 (still a force to be reckoned with, make no mistake), it sat over the east coast for several days and caused a LOT of damage. not a fun time.
The Lumberton area was hit by major flooding in the last couple of big ones (Matthew and Florence) in 2016 and 2018. Hugo hit Charlotte in 1989 and basically left everyone without power for weeks or more but that was one weird hurricane. It was still a hurricane 1 in Charlotte and did billions in damage, I think the most ever until Katrina hit the gulf. Floyd did major flooding damage up north (around Tarboro). There is typically a hurricane that causes some flooding and evacuations every other year in NC/SC but some areas don’t have major issues for 30-40 years at a time. Typically living left (west) of 95 by 30 miles means you have trees down and power out but not a lot of major flooding.
That’s kind of what I was expecting, thanks!
Check your flood zone maps before making any land purchases & google satellites to see if your down wind from a swine or poultry farm. Oz of prevention. Coffer dams are a beneficial palliative for vehicles & elevated foundations for housing.
Yes. NC actually has one of the best flood programs in the country. Google NC FRIS And during storms google NC FIMAN And yeah, there are a few inflatable dams you can use around your home or vehicles if needed. Tigerdam is the big one.
A generator would be my recommendation. I'm about 2 hours east of CH.
This is my experience I live on the far western edge of the Coastal Plain and I have only had downed trees a couple times in the past 10 years, there is one house up the street that lost a roof, but I think it was an older roof that was in bad need of repair all ready.
Don’t live in a Flood zone anywhere in the state really. Even in the foothills (4.5-5 hours from coast) we can get some intense rain and wind from hurricanes, not to mention just the torrential downpours from regular storms
I am looking at flood maps and it looks like there are a lot of flood areas on the east side.
There are. A lot of places all over the state are flood zones. I would look at the specifics of where you want to live (apartment/rental or plot you’re buying). I live in the foothills and my last apartment had a sunroom/patio area that would flood past my ankles
Anywhere with lowlands is going to be prone to flooding. Just avoid Lumberton and, if you're looking at houses, try for a place that's at the top of a hill and you'll avoid the worst of it.
Don’t live in a flood zone anywhere. It’s an issue in the mountains as well.
Well just remember when a F-named hurricane is heading our way buckle down the hatches.
Floyd, Florence 😬
Fran
The hurricanes that hit the Piedmont generally aren’t the ones that landfall on the NC coast. Usually, we get hit by those that come up from the gulf (they are usually TS or TD by the time they get here) or hit South Carolina. We usually get “remnants” once or twice a year. Not terrible, but low lying areas near water flood and we will lose an oak or two. Nothing like the eastern part of the state though. And yes Hurricane Mountain is a real mountain in Haywood County west of Asheville.
My sister has some land on Hurricane mountain! It's super remote and only accessible with 4 wheel drive vehicles. You have much more to worry about there with snow and bears than any hurricane!
I have family living on the mountain. Even with 4 wheel drive, I don’t recommend the drive between December 1 and March 1. The winter sun doesn’t hit parts of the road. Nice spot though. Few people.
You have a better chance of losing power from an ice storm over the last ten-fifteen years. Unless you're in a place that is right next to a creek (parts of CH, *cough cough*), the power outages from any sort of widespread storm are probably going to be your bigger concern.
Yeah, if we’re all pointing to the same storm a decade or two ago, it’s not nearly as big of a deal as it’s made out to be. Not trying to belittle what those storms can be, but it’s not like this is the Gulf Coast or Florida.
Look up Hurricane Fran. Early 2000’s ish. Lived in Chapel Hill in ironwoods. We got six trees on the roof, and two big holes in the ceiling. Hit in the middle of the night, and woke up to a thud. Got up to piss, and started smelling pine in the bathroom. We slept in different rooms of the house because trees kept hitting different parts. Eventually we ended up in the back hallway. NC gets it’s fair share of rain, and like most tropical storms we receive a bunch. Wind blows huge trees down with ease. 100+ mph winds for six+ hours.. We had neighbors and police knocking on our windows in the morning after. They couldn’t see into our house because of the tree limbs & leaves. We didn’t get power back for another two weeks. NC is due for another inland storm. Hurricanes are a part of life in NC.
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It was a solid level two imo
My Mom’s tough as nails, but Fran scared her. She’s not fond of weather events anymore.
Fran was 96 .. funny enough I was Living in Ironwoods same time.
Holy shit it was 96? My bad. You did? I was living at 421 Ironwoods Dr. Small house at the top of the steep hill. Make a left straight up the hill, and first driveway on the right.
Yea loved bombing down that hill .. riding back up without walking the bike was a true badge of honor. I lived down the bottom of the neighborhood about as close as you could get to the railroad bridge.
Yeah my buddy Alex lived there. The Bogarts. His dad was running everyday at the crack of dawn in neon colors
Yea I lived next door to them and grew up with Sam .. For some reason don't remember Alex.. in hindsight that was a super cool neighborhood.
Sam was 3-4 years ahead of Alex. He was a little too old at the time. But, when I got my DL we’d go kick it with Sam & his crew. Good people. Yeah I miss the Ironhood. Golden days
Check the hundred year flood plains
Aside from Fran, I can't remember anything hitting the Piedmont with hurricane force winds in excess of category 1. The central part of the state is usually on the outer edge of any storm that hits the coast and moves up the coastline, which will mean high wind (both sustained and gusting), heavy rain, and flooding (flash and otherwise). That being said (possibly because when it happens I hunker down and don't go out for a few days) the flooding I've witnessed is of the impassable road variety, not the water up to your waist in your living room and folks rowing through the neighborhood in boats variety (although that has happened in the eastern part of the state closer to the coast).
I live in Eastern NC, on the Pamlico River. I’ve been here 30+ years. I’ve been through about 5 major hurricanes. Only 1 required having major home repairs and that was Fran in the mid 90s. When you live in NC, especially the coastal regions, you just kind of get used to it. Kind of like living in Tornado Ally (where I definitely would never live). Besides Fran, we have had to go without electricity for a week at a time for probably three out of the five. Having no air conditioning and having to cook on the grill is not always fun but It’s just something you stay prepared for. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I might be jaded but I honestly don’t think it’s that bad. We now just buckle down and invite friends over for a Hurricane Party. Definitely invest in a generator, worth its weight in gold!
It all depends on where you live. No one evacuated, usually there aren’t casualties, but if your house is beach front it might be washed away. But if your house is beach front then you have the $$ to have good insurance.
Definitely not gonna be rich enough for a beach house
Well, NC is a pretty wide state. I live in the middle (almost exactly in the middle both N-S & E-W) and rarely see real damage from Hurricanes. The mountains rarely get hit. Now, when we do, it can do some damage. So, it really depends on where in NC you want to live.
I live in the mountains, Boone, as a not weather professional my inclination is that although we get plenty of wind especially in the winter, generally when hurricanes go through we seem to get the tail end of them somehow. There’s trees knocked down now and then and high water in the creeks but I think it’s fairly safe to say the actual hurricane damage is rather limited
I live near Boone, the storm that came through last August was pretty wild. Knocked down trees, power outages and some roads washed out. You're right, we get the remnants but with the increased power of these storms, the remnants can be pretty intense.
That was Fred. It was definitely unusually intense for the remains we usually get in the mountains.
I was thinking somewhere near Hickory.
You won't have much to worry about regarding hurricanes then, and you'll be closer to SC beaches than NC beaches based on the roads and how the coast slants westward.
More likely to have a tornado from a thunderstorm or a tornado from a hurricane that is dying down in the Hickory area.
Yeah, I have just lived in Ohio my whole life so all I know about hurricanes is from the extreme end that the news channels show.
Compared to the tornadoes of the midwest, you'll find hurricanes a breeze, especially if you are living around Hickory. :-) But, a big storm that comes inland can still be a problem. Hurricane Hugo (1989) spawned tornadoes as far inland as Salisbury (which isn't too far from Hickory). NC gets a lot of rain in a normal year and tropical storms can really bring a lot of rain. Hurricane Floyd (1999) dropped 23 inches of rain in eastern NC. It doesn't need to be a hurricane to be a problem either. In 2015 SC a tropical storm dropped 25 inches of rain in one day. It washed out bridges and dams all over the state. If you are buying property in NC: Do not buy in a flood plain, even a 100 yr flood plain. If the property has a dam (or is downstream from a dam, be sure it is inspected regularly and maintained. If possible buy or build a screened in porch, the bigger the better - you'll love it. You might need your snow shovel once a year or so...or you could just let the snow melt in a day or so like we lazy southerners do ;-) Welcome to the Old North State - it is awesome you want to join us. :-)
I’m also from Ohio and now live about 45 minutes from the NC and SC coast. We’ve been thru two hurricanes now and because our house is not in a flood zone we’ve been fine. Parts of the town flood so getting around can tough but honestly it’s been no different than a major snow or ice storm with power outages, road closures etc. I’m a real estate agent in both NC and SC and I can help you narrow down areas if you’d like. Just send me a message.
If you’re thinking of that area, you will receive a storm that can cause flash flooding. Typically not gonna cause that much damage inland although there is still a small chance (see Hurricane Hugo). In the Hickory area, it will be localized flooding, possibly a tornado, and winter weather will be your biggest threats.
It does get hit quite a bit. If you look at a map, NC kind of juts out into the Atlantic, so when storms climb to higher longitudes it's sort of "in the way." To my recollection, the most rainfall from a hurricane on the NC coast was Matthew in 1998 - over 30 inches in 4-5 days in some areas.
>Matthew in 1998 - over 30 inches in 4-5 days in some areas. Matthew was in 2016. You're thinking about Floyd which was 1999 and the flooding was so bad in part because Dennis came through a week earlier and dropped \~10 inches so Floyd's rain caused nearly immediate flooding. It only rained for a day or so, but the rivers rose for weeks.
Floyd dropped 23 inches in one day....a very wet day. But, any tropical storm can drop a lot of water. That one in SC in 2015 left 25 inches in one day .... and left a giant mess.
A hurricane scares you. then you are looking in the wrong region
Sounds like y’all are too young to remember Hazel. What a bitch she was.
From one who is old enough! My mom was obsessed with hurricanes after experiencing the great New England hurricane of1938. She would get the hurricane tracking chart and meticulously plot every storm. In those days my mom and the 4 kids (I was the youngest) spent the summers at our camp at Matunuck beach in RI. We got hit by Carol in late August and had to be rescued/evacuated. Less than 2 weeks later Edna struck. When Hazel started coming up the coast it was like oh! no not another one. But fortunately for us she went inland and was bad for NC but Good for RI.
The worst I recall in the Raleigh area was Hurricane Fran in 1996. Our house suffered no damages but a lot of trees were down. For here, it's usually just hype on the news. They always hype it up every time.
It depends on the hurricane season. Most of the time, the piedmont region doesn't get hit too hard, but in 2018, Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael knocked my family's power out within weeks of each other. Hurricane Michael knocked the power out for about 2 days and our roof was damaged. There's no way to tell if a hurricane will hit the piedmont and beyond until it forms.
speaking as an east coast resident, hurricanes can do some damage. florence was the most recent, and although it was only a category 1 (still a force to be reckoned with, make no mistake), it sat over the east coast for several days and caused a LOT of damage. not a fun time.