Hurricane storm surges in North Carolina

Figure 3. A closeup of the exhibit, showing local storm surges. (Photograph by the author. More about the photograph)

Figure 3 shows the bottom of the exhibit shown in Figure 2 and provides data on recent hurricanes in North Carolina. Those shown are four of the storms of the 1990s but do not include Dennis and Floyd in 1999, both of which occurred just weeks before the photographs in this field trip were taken. Dennis was a loop-the-loop storm that came up the coast, stalled off Cape Hatteras, then looped back seaward only to turn again and come ashore near Morehead City with a 5- to 7-foot storm surge. Hurricane Floyd will always be remembered for the damage it did when its more than 20 inches of rain fell on the coastal plain, but when it made landfall at Oak Island it also brought a 12-foot storm surge. The effects of that surge will be shown on this field trip.

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