About Flooding

• When it comes to hurricanes, wind speed is not the whole story. Hurricanes produce storm surge, tornadoes, and often the most deadly threat of all – flooding
• Over the past 30 years, flooding has been responsible for the most deaths from hurricanes

Wind Isn't Everything

Flooding is not directly related to wind strength of hurricanes:

• Some of the greatest rainfall amounts occur from weaker storms that move slowly or stall
• Flooding can be a major threat to communities hundreds of miles from the coast as intense rain falls from huge tropical air masses
• 63% of the flooding deaths resulting from hurricanes over the past 30 years have occurred in inland counties

The Dangers of Flooding

• Since 1970, freshwater floods have accounted for 59% of the deaths resulting from tropical storms and hurricanes
• Sadly, that number rises to 78% among children
• At least 23% of U.S. tropical cyclone deaths occur to people who drown in, or attempt to abandon, their cars
• In 1999, Hurricane Floyd brought intense rains and record flooding to eastern United States and North Carolina
• Of the 56 people who perished in that hurricane, 50 drowned in inland flooding, 35 in North Carolina