Hurricane Grace and Hurricane Floyd Term Paper

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hurricanes Floyd and Grace both brought devastating damage, Floyd's impact came largely from the Floyd itself, while Grace's impact came from the combination with two other weather systems. By itself, Floyd was a force to be reckoned with: a Category 3 hurricane that stretched from Canada to the U.S. that came on the heels of Hurricane Dennis. In contrast, Grace was a less powerful storm that would have dissipated naturally before causing serious damage.

Hurricane Floyd

Formation

Hurricane Floyd first formed as a tropical depression on September 7th 1999. Floyd formed about 1,000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, and gradually grew in strength over the next few days while moving in a west-northwest heading for several days. During this time of growth, Floyd moved over the islands of the Bahamas and began to parallel the southern coast of the United States. During this time, Floyd fluctuated between a Category three and four hurricane, but gradually weakened as it headed for the coast of the United States (National Weather Service).

Floyd was an immense hurricane, stretching all the way from Canada to Florida. Floyd was about twice the size of a typical Atlantic Hurricane at about 580 km across in total (Herring).

In addition to its large size, Floyd was also a formidable force. Winds near Floyd's eye were about 130 km per hour, rating Floyd as a Category 3 hurricane. Throughout its immense span, Floyd's winds were about 40 to 73 km per hour (Herring).

Residents of the Atlantic states braced themselves for the arrival of Floyd. Floyd came on the heels of Hurricane Dennis, which had already brought substantial damage to the Carolina coast.

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Dennis hit the Carolina coast first as a Hurricane, and later came ashore as a tropical storm on September 15th. As a tropical storm, Dennis brought 70-mile-per hour winds and torrential rains (Herring).

Impact

As a result of the damage brought on by Dennis, the Carolina coast was already weakened before Floyd hit land. In many areas, the ground was already saturated by Dennis' rains, and intermittent thunderstorms, making the land highly susceptible to flooding (National Weather Service; Herring).

Floyd first hit land near Cape Fear, North Carolina at around 3:00 AM on September 16, 1999. In the next 12 hours, Floyd dropped an impressive15 to 20 inches of rain in North Carolina (Herring).

Floyd's impact on North Carolina was devastating. Writes Herring "many trees that had withstood the elements for decades were standing in waterlogged soil and got pushed over like bowling pins." In addition, swelling rivers, creeks and capillaries brought further devastation (Herring).

By the 16th of September, Floyd seemed to have run its course. The sun appeared, and people resumed their normal schedules. However, Floyd's devastation was not finished. On the night of the 16th, the Tar, Neuse, Roanoke, and Pamlico Rivers and their tributaries, swollen by Floyd's rains, overran their banks. The overflow spilled into urban areas, trapping people on their roofs, washing away roads, and contaminating water supplies. Agricultural areas suffered, as hundreds of thousands of pigs drowned, along with millions of chickens, and the fisheries were threatened by runoff (Herring).

While it stretched from Canada to Florida, Floyd brought the largest amounts of damage to North Carolina, Virginia, and Mid-Atlantic States. In North.....

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