Matthew and Floyd are two mean dudes
As I write this Hurricane Matthew is pummeling the Florida coast. Matthew has already killed scores of people in the Caribbean as fierce winds and flooding rains have taken their toll. After a quiet hurricane season so far and a quiet decade, Matthew appears to be a disaster in the making. Millions of people will be affected as the path of the storm looks like it will hug the coasts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
The forecasted position of the storm will provide the potential for a large storm surge, flooding rains and hurricane force winds. By the time you read this Matthew should have caused a lot of damage and be off the Carolina coast. Power outages will be widespread and flooding will be a big problem.
Matthew brings to mind a similar storm with a personal connection. Hurricane Floyd took a similar path when it struck the same coasts in September 1999. As millions of people evacuated and headed inland many became trapped on flooded interstates and these highways became parking lots filled with desperate people. Rains of 10 to 20 inches brought widespread flooding. This time officials have allowed traffic to flow westward on all lanes. This is making for a much more orderly evacuation. Also, people are leaving earlier and getting ahead of the storm. Motels filled up quickly.
We had rented a beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in September 1999. A few days into our stay, Floyd developed and forecasters began to warn of a Florida impact. As the storm neared Florida, it stayed out to sea instead of coming ashore and now became a threat to Georgia. South Carolina became the next target, but once again Floyd hung off the coast.
That evening the forecasters issued hurricane watches for North Carolina and before midnight, the watches were upgraded to a hurricane warning with a mandatory evacuation for the following day. We decide to leave at dawn and travel inland about 100 miles. Diane was anxious to get started, so we left well before dawn. Rain just started and continued for the full journey to Franklin, Virginia. We got the last room at the Comfort Inn just on the edge of town. Most places were closing as the storm was expected to bring a lot of rain even this far away from the ocean.
During the night, the power went out and water began to seep under the door. Morning light showed a parking lot full of water, high winds and driving rains and our room soggy and wet.
Franklin ended up with some 14 inches of rain. The nearby Rappahannock River overflowed, two dams burst and the entire area was flooded.
The motel was able to get some coffee made on a Coleman Camp stove and we ended up sharing food with others in the lobby after wading through the parking lot. We were also able to move to the second floor as a boat was able to take a few people to another hotel on higher ground. Later that morning the winds died down, the rains ceased and the sun came out. The storm was over. The next day, some roads were opened as waters subsided and we were able to head back to the Outer Banks, although there were a few detours and the trip took almost three times as long as normal.
Floyd killed some 71 people and the heavy rains caused massive flooding. Fortunately, it weakened just before it came ashore at Cape Fear, North Carolina, as a Category 1 hurricane.
After we confirmed that it was safe to do so, we went back to the Outer Banks since we still had almost 10 days left on our rental.
The next 10 days were sunny and pleasant. It could have been a lot worse.