What was the worst hurricane to strike North Carolina?
The answer(s) to this question depend upon the definition of “worst.” Hurricane Floyd is the latest candidate. When it made landfall in September 1999, it was in a downward transition to a category-two storm. However, with streams and rivers of the eastern counties already filled from the summer rains, Floyd was a monstrous flood producer that is now recognized as the greatest disaster in North Carolina history. Before Floyd, Hurricane Fran, which made landfall near Cape Fear in September 1996, was the most destructive storm in North Carolina history. It left behind a trail of wreckage from the coast to the Capitol and beyond, with a total cost estimated to exceed $4 billion. Hurricane Hugo, which struck the South Carolina beaches and moved through western North Carolina in September 1989, caused $1 billion in damages in the Tar Heel state and $7 billion overall. Hurricane Hazel, which struck Brunswick County in October 1954, didn’t match the dollar damages of Fran, but was a more powe
