Inland hurricane flooding in southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina produced by Dennis '99 and Floyd '99: Operational considerations and decision making at NWS Wakefield, Virginia

Abstract: Tropical Storm Dennis ‘99 and Hurricane Floyd ‘99 affected the Carolinas and Mid Atlantic region, producing unprecedented rainfall and flooding, particularly in southeast Virginia and North Carolina. Over twelve inches of rain locally was reported in each storm over southeast Virginia and Northeast North Carolina. Some areas within southeast Virginia and Northeast North Carolina experienced their worst flooding in nearly 60 years, while the city of Franklin, Virginia experienced their 500 year flood of record.

Only 3 deaths were attributed to the flooding in the National Weather Service (NWS) Wakefield, Virginia county warning area, associated with Dennis '99 and Floyd ‘99. This extreme flood episode, that affected over 2 million people in the NWS Wakefield, Virginia county warning area, offers the opportunity to analyze what aspects of the forecast and coordination processes contributed to the significant reduction in loss of life.

This study will address the NWS Wakefield, Virginia decision-making process prior to and during the flooding, Emergency Management needs, inter-office, inter-agency and external coordination, staffing, and personal needs. NWS Wakefield, Virginia was directly impacted by the flooding, becoming inaccessible to all forms of transportation and communications for more than 48 hours, with the exception of cellular phone communications. A description of the flooding conditions will be provided, as well as lessons that NWS Wakefield learned from this episode.