Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone which struck the Bahamas and the East Coast of the United States. It was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Floyd triggered the fourth largest evacuation in US history when 2.6 million coastal residents of five states were ordered from their homes as it approached. The hurricane formed off the coast of Africa and lasted from September 7 to 19, becoming extratropical after September 17, and peaked in strength as a very strong Category 4 hurricane. It was among the largest Atlantic hurricanes of its strength ever recorded, in terms of gale-force diameter.
Floyd was once forecast to strike Florida, but turned away. Instead, Floyd struck the Bahamas at peak strength, causing heavy damage. It then moved parallel to the East Coast of the United States, causing massive evacuations and costly preparations from Florida through the Mid-Atlantic states. The storm weakened significantly, however, before striking the Cape Fear region, North Carolina as a very strong Category 2 hurricane, and caused further damage as it traveled up the Mid-Atlantic region and into New England.
The hurricane produced torrential rainfall in Eastern North Carolina, adding more rain to an area already hit by Hurricane Dennis just weeks earlier. The rains caused widespread flooding over a period of several weeks; nearly every river basin in the eastern part of the state exceeded 500-year flood levels. In total, Floyd was responsible for 85 fatalities and $6.5 billion in damage. Due to the destruction, the World Meteorological Organization retired the name Floyd and replaced it with Franklin.
Meteorological history
Floyd originated from a tropical wave that exited the west coast of Africa on September 2. The wave moved generally westward, presenting a general curvature in its convection, or thunderstorms, but little organization at first. By September 5, a center of circulation was evident within the convective system. Over the next day, the thunderstorms increased in intensity as they organized into a curved band. Aided by favorable outflow, the system organized further into Tropical Depression Eight late on September 7, located about east of the Lesser Antilles. With a strong ridge of high pressure to its north, the nascent tropical depression moved to the west-northwest, where environmental conditions favored continued strengthening, including progressively warmer water temperatures. On issuing its first advisory, the National Hurricane Center anticipated that the depression would intensify into a hurricane within three days, a forecast that proved accurate. On its second advisory, NHC forecaster Lixion Avila stated that the depression had "all the ingredients...that we know of...to become a major hurricane eventually."Early on September 8, the depression became sufficiently well-organized for the NHC to upgrade it to Tropical Storm Floyd. The storm had a large circulation, but Floyd initially lacked a well-defined inner core, which resulted in only slow strengthening. The first Hurricane Hunters mission occurred on September 9, which observed the developing storm. On September 10, Floyd intensified into a hurricane about 230 mi east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles. Around that time, the track shifted more to the northwest, steered by a tropical upper tropospheric trough north of Puerto Rico. An eye developed in the center of the hurricane, signaling strengthening. On September 11, Hurricane Floyd moved through the upper-level trough, which, in conjunction with an anticyclone over the eastern Caribbean, disrupted the outflow and caused the winds to weaken briefly. The hurricane re-intensified on September 12 as its track shifted more to the west, steered by a ridge to the north. That day, the NHC upgraded Floyd to a major hurricane, or a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Over a 24-hour period from September 12–13, Hurricane Floyd rapidly intensified, aided by warm waters east of The Bahamas. During that time, the maximum sustained winds increased from, making Floyd a strong Category 4 hurricane. This was based a 90% reduction of an observation by the Hurricane Hunters, which recorded flight-level winds of 171 mph. Around the same time, the pressure dropped to, which was the fourth-lowest pressure for a hurricane not to reach Category 5 intensity in the Atlantic Ocean – only Hurricanes Iota, Gloria and Opal had lower pressures than Floyd. Around this time, tropical cyclone forecast models suggested an eventual landfall in the Southeastern United States from Palm Beach, Florida to South Carolina.
At its peak, tropical storm-force winds spanned a diameter of, making Floyd one of the largest Atlantic hurricanes of its intensity ever recorded. For about 12 hours, Hurricane Floyd remained just below Category 5 status while crossing The Bahamas. Late on September 13, the eye of the hurricane passed just north of San Salvador and Cat Islands. On the next day, the hurricane made landfalls on Eleuthera and Abaco islands. During this time, Floyd underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, in which an outer eyewall developed, causing the original eye to dissipate near Eleuthera. This caused a temporary drop in sustained winds to Category 3 status, only for Floyd to restrengthen briefly to a Category 4 on September 15.
While approaching the southeastern United States, a strong mid- to upper-level trough eroded the western portion of the high-pressure ridge, which had been steering Floyd for several days. The break in the ridge caused Floyd to turn to the northwest. After the hurricane completed its eyewall replacement cycle, Floyd had a large 57 mi eye. The large storm gradually weakened after exiting The Bahamas, due to drier air and increasing wind shear. On September 15, Floyd paralleled the east coast of Florida about 110 mi offshore, as it accelerated to the north and north-northeast. At around 06:30 UTC on September 16, Hurricane Floyd made landfall in Cape Fear, North Carolina with winds of, a Category 2. The eyewall had largely dissipated by that time. Continuing northeastward along a cold front, Floyd moved through eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, weakening to tropical storm status by late on September 16. The storm gradually lost its tropical characteristics as it quickly moved through the Delmarva Peninsula, eastern New Jersey, Long Island, and New England. Late on September 17, Floyd transitioned into an extratropical cyclone near the coast of southern Maine. The storm continued to the northeast, passing through New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland on September 18. On the following day, a larger extratropical storm over the North Atlantic Ocean absorbed what was once Hurricane Floyd.
Preparations
Early in Floyd's duration, the hurricane posed a threat to the Lesser Antilles, prompting tropical storm watches for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Saint Martin, and Saint Barthelemy. After the storm bypassed the region, the government of The Bahamas issued a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas, as well as hurricane warnings for the central and northwestern Bahamas.Although Floyd's track prediction was above average while out at sea, the forecasts as it approached the coastline were merely average compared to forecasts from the previous ten years. The official forecasts did not predict Floyd's northward track nor its significant weakening before landfall. At some point, the NHC issued a hurricane warning for nearly all of the East Coast of the United States, from Florida City, Florida, to Plymouth, Massachusetts; however, only a fraction of this area actually received hurricane-force winds. The last time such widespread hurricane warnings occurred was during Hurricane Donna in 1960.
Initial fears were of a direct hit as a large Category 4 hurricane in Florida, potentially costlier and deadlier than Hurricane Andrew had been in 1992. In preparation for a potentially catastrophic landfall, more than one million Florida residents were told to evacuate, of which 272,000 were in Miami-Dade County. U.S. President Bill Clinton declared a federal state of emergency in both Florida and Georgia in anticipation of the storm's approach. As the storm turned to the north, more people were evacuated as a progressively larger area was threatened. The massive storm prompted what was then the largest peacetime evacuation in U.S. history, with around 2.6 million evacuating coastal areas in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
With the storm predicted to hit near Cape Canaveral with winds of over, all but 80 of Kennedy Space Center's 12,500-person workforce were evacuated. The hangars that house three space shuttles can withstand winds of only, and a direct hit could have resulted in potentially billions of dollars in damage of space equipment. When Floyd passed by the area, Kennedy Space Center only reported light winds with minor water intrusion. Overall damage was minor and was repaired easily.
A hurricane warning was issued for the North Carolina coastline 27 hours prior to landfall. However, due to the size of the storm, initial forecasts predicted nearly all of the state would be affected in one form or another. School systems and businesses as far west as Asheville shut down for the day landfall was predicted. As it turned out, only the Coastal Plain sustained significant damage; much of the state west of Raleigh escaped unscathed. In New York City, public schools were closed on September 16, 1999, the day Floyd hit the area. This was a rare decision by the city, as New York City public schools close on average once every few years. Before Floyd, the last time New York City closed its schools was for the Blizzard of 1996. After Floyd, the next time its public schools would close was due to a blizzard on March 5, 2001. Walt Disney World also closed for the first time in its history due to the storm.
Ahead of the storm, officials in Pennsylvania hoped rainfall from Hurricane Floyd would relieve persistent drought conditions, although on September 15 a spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Protection advised that the storm's path was still uncertain. Then-governor Tom Ridge activated the state Emergency Operations Center in anticipation of flooding rains. Advisories for high winds and potential flooding were issued throughout the state, and a state of emergency was declared in eastern Pennsylvania.
A state of emergency was declared in Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey prompting schools statewide to be shut down on September 16. In Delaware, about 300 people evacuated.
In Atlantic Canada, the Canadian Hurricane Centre issued 14 warnings related to Floyd, generating significant media interest. About 100 Sable Offshore Energy Project employees were evacuated to the mainland. In southwestern Nova Scotia, 66 schools were closed, and provincial ferry service with Bar Harbor, Maine was canceled.