North Carolina flooding from 1,000-year rain event could cost $7 billion
Roads and cars disappeared underwater as a tropical rainstorm brought nonstop rain to parts of southeast North Carolina Monday.
Storm chaser Aaron Jayjack, who witnessed a bridge collapse underneath an SUV and found himself stuck in a North Carolina town cut off by flooding, breaks down his experience of the Sept. 16 tropical rainstorm
A tropical rainstorm brought more than 20 inches of rain to southeast North Carolina, especially to Brunswick and New Hanover counties, Sunday into Monday. Incessant rain with rates of 4-5 inches per hour added up to over 20 inches and overwhelmed drainage systems, causing widespread flooding in these areas.
Flooding submerges signs and cars on Oak Island, North Carolina late morning Sept. 16, 2024 (Dana Rogosky)
AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from this unnamed storm with tropical storm impacts in the United States is $7 billion. This is a preliminary estimate, as the storm effects are continuing to be felt, and some areas have not yet reported complete information about damage, injuries, and other impacts.
Monday afternoon, AccuWeather storm chaser Aaron Jayjack was reporting live on the AccuWeather network when a bridge behind him collapsed, causing a car to fall into the raging water.
“Our team of expert meteorologists identified an area off the Carolina coast as a location for tropical development on Sept. 12, four days in advance and ahead of any other known source and began providing the information our users and customers needed to prepare for tropical storm impacts including the storm surge, flooding from rainfall and damaging winds,” said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter.
As of Tuesday morning, roads were still closed at 10 points in southeastern North Carolina, according to the NCDOT, including US 17 and NC 211, the main routes into Southport and the southern-facing beaches of Brunswick County.
Other videos shot by AccuWeather reporters on the scene Monday morning showed cars and roads underwater in Southport and Carolina Beach. Just after noon, the town of Oak Island, 25 miles southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, declared a state of emergency. Parts of U.S. 17 were underwater and closed near the town of Supply.
Local law enforcement reported that in Bolivia, North Carolina, more than 3 feet of water covered the parking lot at the Brunswick County courthouse while waist-deep water turned roads into rivers in Carolina Beach.
An AccuWeather Ambient weather station in Southport, NC, reported 19.94 inches of rain in 24 hours Monday. Tropical rain not related to the rainstorm started Saturday morning; Southport has received 23.25 inches since then. Another rain gauge in Boiling Spring Lakes reported 19.28 inches Monday with 22.34 inches since Saturday.
In some areas, this was a "1,000-year rain event," the National Weather Service reported. This means that there is a 0.01 percentage chance in any given year that the rainfall would occur.
