My experience of Hurricane Florence: After Florence made landfall in South Carolina/North Carolina we had a tornado outbreak. An EF-2 hit my house, our roof was gone. I suffered a fractured nose and my dog was missing for a week straight. The tornado would majorly damage a Gabe’s, auto parts, and more homes. An elementary school was stuck without power for a week straight. More tornadoes would spawn in the Richmond Virginia metropolitan area, mainly consisting of ef-1’s and ef-0’s. Our town doesn’t have tornado sirens and we only got the warning after it struck. It injuried 5 and killed 1. Our street was was flooded about 9 inches. We were stuck without power for 1-2 days. We found our dog hodge, soon later and were happy.
Thank you so much for this video! I live in Emerald Isle NC, we had nearly 30 inches of rain, (we are only about 10 miles from where the the second highest recored rainfall occurred in this storm being 34 inches in Swansboro) it flooding in spots i didn't know could, that same water stayed for at least 4 or 5 months in some of these areas as well, the entire beach was underwater and it took out a lot of our sand dunes, the pier was pretty damaged but was repaired within 6 months, my family was without power for at least 2 weeks and i don't wish that on anyone, living 2nd row to the beach we got extremely lucky and had nearly no damage, I know people who are still repairing from this storm which shows just how extensive the damage was from Florence, this is easily the worst hurricane i've been through and i've been through a lot of them being born and raised here, Seeing that picture of I40 being underwater looking like a lake will never leave my memory. Even though it sat on top of us for a long time, i still almost feel as though we dodged a bullet because originally they were predicting this storm to be a cat 4 at landfall. All is can say is we are EIStrong and we've made a complete comeback, I just hope in the future we can avoid these horrible storms but by now we're use to it and we know how to prepare for these type of events.
I want to say thank you for putting my art up there and I am very glad you like it! And that was such a amazing video. It must be such a tragic event for those who got hit by the hurricane.
I rememebr Florence, lived in Wilmington for almost 10 years before moving a year after the storm, it was absolutely brutal the amount of damage it had done to our town, because of how slow it was moving. So much flooding, but thankfully our house was spared. Driving around after coming back from evacuation was so surreal seeing all the damage, especially to all the neighborhoods, roads, and schools.
With this video, I now realize Florence is more worse than I thought... I did experience Florence but it was remnant here in NY, with gusty showers here and there. But now, it seems Florence has catastrophic impacts even beyond its retirement... I cannot even imagine communities that once thrived, gone. I also been through Sandy, that storm still has impacts beyond its grave too, with some communities still struggling to thrive, some people never returned to their homes. Even if somewhere gets rebuilt, the economic losses and damages to communities is already done either way for Florence, Sandy and other hurricanes... This also comes to show that Florence is yet another example of a weak, but catastrophic hurricane at landfall nonetheless.
I live in a small town on i40 called Kenansville and I remember this storm vividly it was terrible we were out of school for 30 instructional days just because of the flooding. And the damage to all the farms around here was so bad.
wow. this is so surreal to read!. yes. it was unbelievable. physically heartbreaking when it stopped. we were finally able to go outside after what 2 or 3 days storm.. then several weeks i was in the shelters, with red cross, then ended up at Hoggard with the other 1200 people sleeping on cots after our lives and homes were deleted. fema was hellish. the whole thing felt endless. i barely got a tiny check. tesla sent us batteries that could power a city. the people really came together tho which was big love. this area has a magic to it. Cb, Wrightsville, WLM, outer banks. all up and down. u already know. glad u made it thru ok. salt life forever ❤️✨️
I live in the Charlotte Area, and when I tell you it rained, it RAINED. It rained from when the outer bands came in on the 14th, then didn’t stop until it left on the 17th. Though it didn’t flood heavily here, it affected plant life HEAVILY. Tons of trees fell, and tons of fires from trees falling on cars, as most of the trees took power lines with them.
The remnants of a hurricane can be still extremely dangerous. I remember when the remnants of Hurricane Ike move through Columbus Ohio in generated an extremely destructive windstorm.
I remember that storm well. Was living in dayton area at the time. Very strange storm. Was only predicted to get rain out of it, instead we got hurricane gust winds. Was without power for week and knew some without power for two weeks.
As someone whose been through the remnants of Ida 2021, I can also reckon this too. Many of the deaths where I am from (NY, to be exact) are from people in basement homes which been rapidly flooded... Florence is one of countless examples that we don't need a strong hurricane or storm to cause catastrophic impacts and damage even beyond their graves...
Great recap and analyst. As someone who lived through hurricane Florence, it is something that I will never forget. The wind, the major flooding, the insane about of rain ( I got over 20 inches), and all the damage that followed by the wind/flooding. The strong smell of pine trees and sweet gum trees after walking outside will never leave me. Seeing a truck on its side inside a washout off of a highway, and a building that got washed out from the flooding, all the bridges that was overtaken by water and some starting to get washed out. The flooding lasted months after Florence, the worst part would be the heat wave coming in when we didnt have power for a good week or more. This is just a little piece of a ton of stuff I saw during this event.
Even with Florence retired, I cannot even imagine some once thriving communities before that hurricane, gone or struggling. One of the few cautionary examples of a weak, yet catastrophic hurricane or storm at landfall. I am 100% sure that there are other weak hurricanes that managed to make their prominent or permanent mark to somewhere. The ones that left a huge story to tell and foretold... Like... Sandy, or Ike.
I vividly remember this hurricane. I remember less of the wind, and more of the rainfall. I live on a slight hill, and the rainfall caused my entire bathroom to flood. Before Florence, it was Hurricane Matthew, which hit even harder. Thank you so much for talking about this hurricane.
This storm was crazy. I was stationed in camp Lejune at the time. Having grown up in south Florida during the 04-06 hurricane seasons, I thought I knew what we were prepared for. The rain was so crazy that it flooded my barracks room on the 3rd floor, Leveled trees in the parking lot, and rendered a nearby building condemned when parts of the roof collapsed
I was a marine stationed at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC when Florence hit. This was my first ever hurricane and it blew my mind. I vividly remember having to empty a bucket of water outside and the wind literally blew the bucket all over me. Sleeping was a big struggle, got maybe 3 hours of sleep both nights. I didn’t know how bad the storm was until I saw how flooded the surrounding areas were. There are still countless buildings in Jacksonville and Wilmington that are damaged and not repaired from Florence.
We moved to NC in September, right after Florence hit. My dad was there when it hit. Thank you for sharing this Alferia, the insight is so important of the impact. (I’m happily back on the gulf coast now, but I’ll never forget it.)
I've lived on the NC coast for most of my life, and I must say this was one of the worst storms I've experienced. I remember when it was forecasted to be category 4 at landfall and me and the rest of my family was getting prepared for the storm to batter us. There was just so much hell occurring for 3 days straight, the eyewall passed us and stayed there for awhile and there was so much flooding. After the storm, a majority of my neighborhood was flooded, several trees uprooted, and many damaged homes. My house luckily suffered not too heavy damage, with a few shingles torn off and a bit of water damage. A few days after the storm, I remember going out to the Surf City pier, half of it was gone and the trailer park next to it suffered severe damage. I doubt anything will come close to Florence again for a very long time, very crazy stuff. (On a side note, We also did get a new puppy from a place in early august of that year, she is now traumatized of strong storms that pass us)
Thank you for shedding some light on horrible storms that devastated my community. No one seems to remember. My entire town was under water after Florence, including the shelters. My house flooded. There was irreparable damage everywhere. We didn't go back to school for over a month. I know a lot of people who lost their homes. The whole event was a nightmare, especially since we're 90 miles inland.
What's crazy is, as a student of UNCW now, people are thinking that Lee will do a similar thing since the track of both Lee and Florence are similar. We're being told that, while extremely unlikely, we are to prepare as if a major hurricane is on its way.
First off, what a great recap and overview of this storm! I was looking forward to this video for a bit, and you did not disappoint!! It was also interesting to hear you talk about NC's history with storms, and how unusual the track was for Florence at the time. It's still one of the strangest I've ever seen. Living around the Crystal Coast area, Florence was the first hurricane I rode out at home. I experienced Irene from Wilmington while my home got flooded from the ground, so I wanted to experience a storm head on since I was older. The difference here is that we got flooded from the sky this time! I can still remember wandering around my pitch dark house while my dad went up into the attic to try and contain leaks in the roof. Tornado warnings were going off on my phone and I didn't sleep for the entire night out of fear while keeping watch for new leaks. The water got insanely high too, but thankfully it didn't reach the house. Me and my dad even sat on the porch and watched it peak that night, and during the day you could see people riding little boats in the high water. There was even someone kayaking 😭 We rode around my community a few days later during low tide, and all I can remember was the puddles of water everywhere and the snapped trees from the multitude of weak tornadoes that came through. It was insane to me that all of that was happening and yet I had no idea, and the days after just felt like limbo to me. Our living room ceiling caved in cause of the water damage, and we pretty much retreated to the family room as it was the only habitable room in the house. We went to the local fire station to get supplies with national guard troops everywhere, and when we rode to town a few days later, I can remember seeing thick power poles snapped like damn toothpicks. That's something I definitely won't forget. One thing I also won't forget, though, is the amount of help other states sent. There was a photo taken of an aerial view of a local high school with power trucks lined up and down the parking lot like a pack of sardines. They actually hung that photo up near the cafeteria, and it still sticks with me to this day. It's insane to me that it's been 5 years since the storm because it still feels so recent to me. I still see damaged homes around here with tarps on roofs and construction still being done. People around here are resilient as hell, though, and most everyone here rebounded as if it never happened. It's still definitely a storm people reminisce about, and one we won't forget anytime soon. So sorry for the long comment 😖 but I think it's interesting hearing people's stories of surviving hurricanes. Once again, love the video!!
I still cannot believe that we are already nearly 5 years since Florence, and coincidentally, next year will use the same list Florence was in! Though I must admit, Florence still makes its permanent mark, even after its retirement. Another one of few examples of a weak but catastrophic hurricane regardless of its strength.
I Lived in wilmington, NC my whole life and never saw a hurricane just absolutely decimate us like that, I remember being out of school and out of power for almost a month, and seeing some extended families' trailers just picked up by the flooding and carried away, that stuff scarred me.
I live about thirty minutes off the coast in NC, and had to stay behind because we have multiple pets. From the first night to the end, that whole ordeal was hell. The river to the back of our home flooded streets like you wouldn't believe. Massive trees fell between neighboring houses (thank God it didn't land on anyone's home), and the grass those trees were embedded in was rolled up like a carpet from how the tree just slammed down. The rain seemed neverending, and I remember seeing rescue helis flying overhead the day after the storm left. I pray we never have a storm like that again.
Hurricanes Matthew and Florence were absolutely horrible. I live in Lumberton and the flooding from both of these storms was surreal. We have never experienced anything like it and we still talk about it today. If you need any information feel free to reach out.
I lived there during them, I still remember the flooding. My family was lucky, if the winds were blowing a little differently, a tree would have crashed into my house at the time.
My grandparents lived just outside of New Bern. They stayed thinking it wouldn’t be that bad. But the water from the river flooded their home by around 3-4 feet. They had to escape via canoe with their two cats and dogs. Rescue boats wouldn’t let them on with their pets so they kept on rowing without getting help. Their home was ruined. It was too costly to fix it. My grandma now has PTSD and has never been the same. I feel like the Carolinas are often forgotten when it comes to hurricanes. But it greatly impacts us.
As someone who was on the receiving end of the Waccamaw River's flooding in South Carolina, It's incredibly haunting to to still see the water line from Florence permanently etched into the trees by the river on beaten roads following it, well over 9ft overhead Phenomenal video covering this often overshadowed hurricane, It's a shame a lot of people overlook its catastrophic flooding after its landfall compared to other storms of its scale.
Yeah, Michael came in like a month after Florence... But for sure, there's no such thing as one set "worst storm ever", each hurricane I feel like has their own impacts that managed to stand out from each other, no matter how strong, weak, small, giant, etc.
As a Carolinian, who started tracking storms in 2017 and watched this hit the coast of my state was heartbreaking. I only got depression effects as I am in middle of NC, but this goes to show that c1’s are destructive too, lesson learned, never underestimate any storm.
I wasn't super conscious back in 2018, and I also live in Upstate SC, so even some of worst hurricanes I only remember as a bit of rain. Except Irma, because I watched PopularMMOS and saw their videos on Irma hitting them (I think it was Irma)
A North Carolinian here! I remember Florence clearly I was into metrology at the time and still now. I was tracking tue hurricane all the way til it made landfall and it flooded badly here: luckily my home was on a high hill area so my home didn’t get flooded but we definitely lost power. I can’t believe it’s already been 5 years since Florence it still feels fresh in my mind.
My college was located just beyond a flood plane of a nearby river, I remember having classes in the morning and by the time I returned from my mid morning break the river had already flooded into parts of the parking lot and classes were canceled for the rest of the week. I also remember seeing the aftermath of the toll it took on Emerald Isle first hand once the bridges opened back up. I have a friend with a house on the sound down there and went with him to look at the damage. Luckily the main house wasn’t damaged but his dock was completely destroyed as well as the deck coming off the back of the house. The flood waters actually reached the back door but because of the amount of debris in the water it created a seal and only a minor amount of water actually made it into the house. Definitely a storm for the books and I appreciate you showing the redheaded stepchild of the hurricane prone states some attention.
Thank you for this video! Please do one for Matthew. For whatever reason, I remember Matthew more than I do with Florence. With Matthew, it was the first time I saw actual hurricane damage. The evergreen fir trees in our backyard toppled down from strong winds. And I couldn't forget the flood. Lived in Fayetteville, NC. Almost every low lying area got flooded. Highway 301 was cut off because the water was so high.
I had been living in Fayetteville for a few years when Florence hit. I've been through Matthew and other storms like that there, but nothing compared to the flooding that was Florence. The cape fear river was up to the bridges and flooded the entire downtown area with a few feet of water. I had never seen the cape fear river so high before when it crested. I remember riding out with my family to look at the damage and not being able to get very far due to the sheer amounts of water everywhere. There were branches and tree limbs and debris floating around everywhere. I remember my momma and brothers chanting "turnaround dont drown" during the entire ride. My home was luckily spared from any damages since we didn't live downtown but it was still a huge eyeopener Hurricanes are absolutely insane
I enjoy your videos so much! I grew up in Alabama and lived through the 2011 tornados as a brand new nurse. I've always been interested in weather but that event really fueled my interest. Thank you for putting out videos with great content and factual information so us weather enthusiasts can continue to grow our knowledge.
I remember this like it was yesterday so much RAIN fell during Florence.. Lived here in South Carolina my whole life not quite like Hugo but this storm devastated the state. Matthew was was also a terrible day for South Carolinian’s.
I was working at restaurant just outside Charlotte at the time Florence hit. To this day, I’m still mad at the manager for not letting us leave until roads started getting flooded out. I only lived 10 minutes away, and by the time I got near my neighborhood it was obvious that there were already multiple cars that had been washed into drainage ditches near the 2 entrances. I ended up having to turn back and park on a hill at a shopping center over a mile from home and have a family member with a jeep rush to come get me before the road home was completely impassable. I’m very thankful to have been in one of the luckier areas though.
I had to think about it some more and I finally remembered. Florence hit about a year after I graduated high school (graduated on January 2017). I had alot of things going on then. Florence took out the power for a long while in Fayetteville, from what I could remember. One of dad's sheds got destroyed along with everything in it. Had to get rid of alot of things. Schools closed for a good while before slowly opening back up. I remember a couple of days after, dad went to get help and resources from natural disasters relief that was held in this one building near dowtown.
I lived there! 😢 I was living with my parents in Wilmington NC. We fled from our state and went all the way to Georgia. They didn't want to go at first but I convinced them. We could not get back to our town for 9 days because everything was flooded. My co worker found a fish behind her fridgerator after the water was gone. I'd lived there for 10+ yrs and this was the first time a hurricane "hovered" over us that long. It was water damage that ruined everything including my university campus.
I was living between Conway and Myrtle Beach when Florence, the flooding was absolutely insane. Before the storm hit, my roommates and I ended up leaving the off-campus residence we were living in and we each returned to our families, mine being only a 5 minute drive away, but in a house we had built specifically to withstand extremely high winds (my dad's idea). We made it through safety, but when I returned back to my place a day or so later, the pond there had completely flooded the parking lot. I still have a video (not the best since I was the passenger in a car at the time I recorded) of just how bad the flood waters were in Conway a week or so after the hurricane past. If I remember correctly, I think my university was even closed for a few weeks to a month, many students and professors couldn't make it back, and even after it reopened there were students who couldn't make it and thankfully their absences were excused due to them being trapped by the flooded roads. Sorry for the long post, I still have a lot of memories about this storm, both leading up to and the aftermath of it
My grandparents house was about a mile north of the Neuse river inlet at Pamlico sound. They had over 6 feet of water damage in the lower garage and 2 - 4 feet in the main house. I spoke with my grandmother the whole way and kept telling her that the wind isn't going to be the problem, the constant wind direction and storm surge is what will make this a memorable storm. Their location along the Neuse Pamlico basin/inlet would result in a steady 24 + hours of NW winds shoving water inland with the stalling storm. Thank God it didn't intensify in route to where it made landfall
As someone who lives near Wilmington, that was easily the worst hurricane I’ve ever experienced (I’m 17.) I knew quite a few friends who’s house was completely flooded. One of my friends lived at his grandmas place for nearly 4 years before finally getting another house. That rain was absolutely brutal
Not many people mention the fact that people who evacuated were stranded for weeks after the storm. No one could get back to the Wilmington area because EVERYWHERE was under water. Neighborhood turned into islands. Wilmington did rebound, but I wouldn't buy a new house there. They have developed flooded areas and are selling houses at double what they were worth a week before Flo. Not disclosing flood damage when selling and a ton of people are now having terrible mold issues. The locals have been priced out and it's mostly people moving down from the northeast.
I was affected by Florence. I live in Jacksonville NC. Power was out for 11 days, and my neighborhood had about a foot of water in it. The worst hurricane I have experienced however was Isaias.
I used to live in Winston Salem and I remember waking up to having our basement flooded which was pretty insane considering the neighorhood really wasn't in a flood prone area. Had no idea how much worse it was in other areas.
Much love to the fellow Carolininans.. we live in smithfield for those who are familiar with that. the road that leads to the hospital was flooded even the Nuse River was flooded to
@@whoisfluffy3476 I think where I live never really get reported much as long as it's a killing or something like that. But weather related it's always Raleigh Durham or Charlotte half the time and Fayetteville
Im from Jacksonville, NC. My family went to Georgia. I remember driving thru Duplin county when we got back and seeing all the houses that were destoryed from flooding. Trash stayed on the side of the road from the houses for over a year. It was horrible.
This is awesome great work. I live right outside of New Bern NC and this storm is the worst I've seen in my life. Fran was bad, Floyd was catastrophic, but Florence was overall the worst around here
In 2018 I was living in South Carolina I was 8 years old when I experienced hurricane Florence at the time I didn’t know what was going on but now that I watched this video I finally know why I stayed home from school that day
love the NR2003 reference, also why the heck would talladega help out, theyre wayy out in alabama (but you gotta do what you gotta do yk?) anyways enough nascar ass eating, this video has been put together very well! enjoyed it 😊
Alferia you satisfied me again. I lm really into weather, your videos fascinate me to storms, which is why i want to be a storm chaser someday but i also like NASCAR as well. So ill think about it.
Thank you for acknowledging St Pauls. we often get looked over so much, but I'm glad that someone is actually talking about what happened in Robeson County and how terrible the flooding was for all of us. ❤
Florence was...weird. I remember watching it develop on my favorite weather blog and getting more and more concerned. I've spent enough time living in NC to be concerned, even when I'm not coastal. Hugo and fran were more actively scary with falling trees and lots if wind, but Florence was an entirely different sort of scary. Quieter maybe. It sort of sneaks up on you. My parents' basement flooded and they're on a hill in the middle of a field. The creek i have to cross to get to work was up to the bottom of the bridge over it before it began to recede and the bridge sits several feet over the creek's highest flood stage before that. I was going to turn around with the water so high, but i carpool and the driver refused and crossed anyway. It was terrifying. I have photos of the power pole, at an angle it shouldn't be at, sticking up out of the water beside the bridge. Eventually it was washed away.
I’m a resident of SC on the northern coast. We evacuated to my dads place in Virginia for Florence because forecasts were showing a much stronger landfall. Mathew was more destructive to the beaches because it took out a good few piers, but with Florence the rivers stay VERY high for weeks afterwards from all the rain. Houses by the waterway were underwater for a long time and many people lost their homes. I remember racing back to the beach, trying to get in again before the rivers flooded the only ways into the city. It was real bad in Conway and Socastee. I remember the coast guard putting up sand bags to delay the only road into town from flooding to get as many people as possible back in after the evacuation. Then of course it flooded and we basically lived on an island for a few weeks. Also, wow! I forgot about i95 flooding at lumberton! I remember I read that it was flooded (our way home) so I went a different way back. When we got back i saw a dead fish stuck in a chain link fence at a dog park that flooded.
Florence was definitely a first for me. I was born after Floyd. I remember my high school cancelling classes for several days as the gyms and cafeterias were turned into shelters for those fleeing the storm.
I remember this storm like it was yesterday flooded the river by my house was stuck for a week in the house no power house was shaking rain seemed endless
I've discovered his channel around 2021, I'm also glad I found and watch Alferia. No word can describe how profound and well-made Alferia's videos are, at all. One thing is for sure, he's on his way for a big milestone!
Thank you for doing this video. I will never forget this storm. Seeing the swift water rescue teams full sirens speeding down Chapel Hill road, and experiencing flash flooding while driving to work (yeah my employer made everyone come back to work during the flooding in Durham/Chapel Hill). It was terrifying.
You should cover more hurricanes! I was 10 miles from the eye of Hurricane Charlie as a kid, one of the craziest and scariest experiences of my life. It's the hurricane that turned me into a Florida Man™️ and now I only evacuate during the last 12 hours before landfall. The curse of Tampa Bay is long overdue, my gut says we're gonna be hit with a cat 5 within the next 3 years.
I don’t think hurricanes can be “overdue” but the geographical location of Tampa bay makes it so they avoid a lot of hurricanes and swfl usually takes the hit. But yes same with charley, it was an insane storm! Was trapped in the closet with my mom and it seriously sounded insane! The sounds of the howling wind still haunt me lol
The 1000 flood never got much coverage and to this day a lot of people forget about how bad it truly was. I remember being out of school for over a week. I remember the news saying basically the “fire house” effect from a front pulling all the moister from the hurricane, pounding us with pouring rain for days
As someone who lives in Wilmington and someone who stayed and loved weather since 2008, Florence was long, I didn’t get power back until 9 days after we lost power, and yes Wilmington did bounce back quickly and now we’re overpopulated lol, But I have a few old photos I could share if that would interest you just to see some firsthand damage from 8 hours after landfall
I remember Florence, we live in Charlotte, there wasn’t that much flooding, but their were strong winds, the power went out, and we slept in the basement
I live in Ainger, near Benson, and I still remember Florence as if it was yesterday and how terrified people around me were, i was a kid but i still remember a lot about Florence
I lived in the middle of NC towards the SC border (Mineral Springs, Union Co.) and there was so much flooding of my neighbors' houses. A few bridges were taken out and we couldn't even get anywhere for a while. I have videos of it to on my main channel. Wilmington was absolutely pummeled on the coast. I went to the college there and just graduated and there are still remenants of the storm and its destruction in the area. I live in Wilmington now.
I live in Wilmington NC and went through Florence. I thoroughly enjoyed this very in depth video! Best of luck to you in your future with meteorology. You'll do great.
I grew up with NC hurricanes but it was my first year at UNCW when Florence hit, so a month or so after move in we all had to move back out because they said they weren’t responsible for any of our stuff if our dorm windows shattered. It took weeks to get campus liveable again, and even then we were finding black mold and an insane amount of bugs in the buildings. Not to mention the buildings that had to be torn down, trailers brought in to be labs after losing our entire science building, and a month of curriculum waived so we missed all of asia in art history lmao. Crazy time. Edit to add my natural disasters professor from CA stayed to watch the eye and raves about it to this day. He may have been the only one enjoying it.
I live in York SC, i remember watching the track anxiously since it was originally forecast to make landfall further south. Had it done so then my area would have been more significantly impacted
I lived in a place that was severely affected by this storm in NC (Morehead City area) and I lost my home to this storm. It wasn’t until January 2021 that I was able to move back in, if it wasn’t for the people of the Reach Global team from Minnesota I don’t think that I would even be able to be back in my house today, this storm has done a great deal to our communities and there’s still may today that haven’t got their homes rebuilt. This video was a great watch and very enjoyable, although tough to revisit those memories.
I remember when Florence made landfall. I live in the State of Delaware. When the north Carolina governor sent out the call for help our state emergency management agency put together a taskforce made up of 42 firefighters from various volunteer fire departments (which most departments are here) Our crews were sent to the outer banks and firefighters from my home town were in Morehead city
I remember growing up in NC. I moved around a lot back then. When I first moved to NC from SC, I went to elementary school in Robeson county. I don't have many memories from there. But it made me sad hearing how it was impacted. I moved to St. Pauls after, where I continued elementary school. That's where my best friend at the time taught me how to make a duck noise! But it got hit hard by Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. I remember going through St. Pauls a couple years back. It never seemed like it fully recovered. Maybe consider it rose tinted glasses, but St. Pauls was growing before the two hurricanes. When I went through there, it seemed like everything had gone stagnant. It was sad to see. I lived in the outskirts of Charlotte when Florence hit. I was in 'Intermediate School'. It didn't hit us too hard, we lived on the top of a slope. I can't remember much of it, but the time I lived there it just seemed tropical storms and hurricanes hit so often. Anyways, I'm glad that the Carolinas got mentioned, as an SC native, I'd really appreciate if you could cover Hurricane Hugo.
Oh I remember Florence. I was only 12 when she hit and damn did she mess up Wilmington. My mom didn’t drive me around until everything was mostly fixed, so I can’t say how exactly bad flooding was. I can say though I lost so many nostalgic childhood trees around my area.. Me and my mom stayed the entire ride, hell I slept through when the hurricane first showed up. We lost power for nine solid days. (Me and my mom got SO excited when we saw a bucket truck/power men working on the power lines though driving by) It was hot as hell and I remember spending my entire day soaking my feet in a tub of water reading diary of a wimpy kid books, frustrated. Florence was so damn SLOW I just wanted to go back online to text my friends on Animal Jam (kids game) but I unfortunately couldn’t do it. Hell back then I was a huge comic book writer so I wrote a whole rant comic series about all the hurricanes as humans going to school, and pretty much had all the kids make fun of Florence for being stupid and slow ha ha. Would stay up most of the night with a fake candle to make the comic, I’d carve drawings into it. I also fondly remember after 5 days of no hot meals, we finally were able to go to Waffle House to get some food. I remember the next day going to Whole Foods being impressed the power was even on. Got to FINALLY play animal jam to let my friends know I was okay. Florence definitely scared me and I’m just praying my area doesn’t see another hurricane this year. I was terrified of Lee for a while. I definitely feel a bit nostalgic for Florence but I’m still mad how tragic and horrible her destruction was. Definitely was unique I don’t understand how she just would NOT go away. Couldn’t stand it.
I’m from South Carolina here, and I remember Florence! I live around the capital and I do say it was a pretty bad hurricane! But if you can do a video on the 1000 year flood of 2015 from hurricane Joaquin, that storm forever changed the landscape of South Carolina, and to this day there is still some places that never recovered here around the capital such as Lexington counties old mill and a few bridges and roads. I remember the news saying basically the “fire house” effect from a front pulling all the moister from the hurricane, pounding us with pouring rain for days
The 1000 flood never got much coverage and to this day a lot of people forget about how bad it truly was. I remember being out of school for over a week back in High school. I remember the news saying basically the “fire house” effect from a front pulling all the moister from the hurricane, pounding us with pouring rain for days.
I still remember Florence vividly. I was still in high school when it hit, we had schools close down due to it. Despite it being so many years since then, we still feel the after effects of the storm. I'm watching this right as the 2024 season begins, I can only hope we're spared this year.
I remember being in Charleston, SC in the middle of it. Don't know why my family was there, but the winds and rain were absolutely crazy. The tall buildings made it a lot worse.
Speaking on nascar we went to the southern 500 on the 2nd. But because of the evacuation order for sc the race didn’t end until 2am because of rain on the 3rd. Living in shallotte we then didn’t stop seeing rain for 2 more weeks. But it was still a pretty good race.
This was living hell. We had no power, no food, the only cheese we had was ez spray cheese (ew). No Tv, only radio. After the hurricane we had to buy a new fridge. We would've boiled water when we had ran out of water bottles, but we had an electric stove. We also had a small generator with just enough power to charge our phones and flashlights. We were probably lucky with how little damage we got, since we lived very close to a bunch of creeks in Fayetteville at the time.
UNCW had damage to the chemistry and atmospheric chemistry building. Some very important research had to be rescued by staff that stayed in town during the storm. Many people returning to New Hanover- Burnswick counties could not return due to flooding on all roads back. Eventually days after the storm made landfall people were finally able to make it back but having to wait until low tide to make it back home because high tide the water would return to the roads.
This is the storm that awoke my love for severe weather. I remember the winds whipping the trees and being pounded by rain all the way on the Virginia east coast. I am now hoping to pursue an education and career as a broadcast meteorologist specifically in Tornado Alley.
Thank you so much for this video! I never really knew much about this hurricane except I think it was on an episode of Storm Hunters? But this is so interesting.
Amazing recap, this storm I remember is from meteorology class I was in during college in California. Never realized it was named from the Walmart parking lot.. who knew
i was born and raised in North Carolina, but moved to the UK with my mom and stepdad when i was 7 in 2010, i remember being so worried about my biological dad during florence, he lived alone and didnt have many close relatives or friends at the time. during florence he had a power outage and didnt reply for a few days and that was the most terrifying experience ever.
I’m really impressed with the production of your video although I haven’t been commenting since the El Reno 2013 video. But do cont❤to watch your videos especially those about Katrina, Sandy and Darchio in the mid US which I rare ply experience in my country although the former albeit name differently.
My parents forced me to evacuate from North Myrtle Beach back when it was expected to make landfall in that vicinity as a Cat 4. For reference we lived about maybe half a mile away from the shore. I took our oldest dog with me to my aunt’s house in Chesapeake, VA. It took me nearly 3 weeks to get home after Florence. My bosses at my job were like, when are you going to make it back and I told them every time they insisted I try to make the trip again that every way back was flooded and I’d have to wait for things to recede before I could get home. Sure, I could have gone to a closer relative’s home, but they were in Columbia. Even worse flooding had I gone there, so I think I made the right choice.
12:24 Yoooo, but this is actually neat, tho. Cuz those tracks DO take up a lot of land. Outside of events and practice runs, they don't see much use. I'm a bit of a NASCAR fan, too, Alferia, so I'd've been pretty excited to spend a few days at a track, even if it meant potential flood inundation at home.
Just a small correction:
Mislabeled Jonathan Arp as Johnathan Arp.
That is all.
Ok the video is nice and released on my birthday
I have a request! Could you do hurricane Ian?
Damn I was in Oregon when hurricane Florence happened my family relatives lived in Virginia during hurricane Florence
@@Spaciovvs1 yess i would really want to see a vid on ian
I'm not sure what your schedule is or how long your videos take to make, but I had an idea for a future video you could do for next year.
Thank you for this. I feel like we in the Carolinas are often forgotten when people discuss hurricanes, and we do get some serious impacts from them.
Definitely.
Here comes another cyclone heading straight for NC a couple days after you comment this 😂
all we got was rain for 2 days wtf idk where the hell in nc YOU were but it wasn't anything crazy
My experience of Hurricane Florence:
After Florence made landfall in South Carolina/North Carolina we had a tornado outbreak. An EF-2 hit my house, our roof was gone. I suffered a fractured nose and my dog was missing for a week straight. The tornado would majorly damage a Gabe’s, auto parts, and more homes. An elementary school was stuck without power for a week straight. More tornadoes would spawn in the Richmond Virginia metropolitan area, mainly consisting of ef-1’s and ef-0’s. Our town doesn’t have tornado sirens and we only got the warning after it struck. It injuried 5 and killed 1. Our street was was flooded about 9 inches. We were stuck without power for 1-2 days. We found our dog hodge, soon later and were happy.
I wish you can do more videos about tropical cyclones, maybe even explore into other parts of the world like Central America or East Asia. ❤
Yeah! Also there's the Cyclone Catarina, the only recorded hurricane-strengh storm to ever hit Brazil.
I'd watch it! I know next to nothing about cyclones. I may do a bit of digging after this for gits n shiggles
Yeah, Then there is Harvey, Ida, Ian, Idalia, and so
Or if there are many east coast hurricanes.
Thank you so much for this video! I live in Emerald Isle NC, we had nearly 30 inches of rain, (we are only about 10 miles from where the the second highest recored rainfall occurred in this storm being 34 inches in Swansboro) it flooding in spots i didn't know could, that same water stayed for at least 4 or 5 months in some of these areas as well, the entire beach was underwater and it took out a lot of our sand dunes, the pier was pretty damaged but was repaired within 6 months, my family was without power for at least 2 weeks and i don't wish that on anyone, living 2nd row to the beach we got extremely lucky and had nearly no damage, I know people who are still repairing from this storm which shows just how extensive the damage was from Florence, this is easily the worst hurricane i've been through and i've been through a lot of them being born and raised here, Seeing that picture of I40 being underwater looking like a lake will never leave my memory. Even though it sat on top of us for a long time, i still almost feel as though we dodged a bullet because originally they were predicting this storm to be a cat 4 at landfall. All is can say is we are EIStrong and we've made a complete comeback, I just hope in the future we can avoid these horrible storms but by now we're use to it and we know how to prepare for these type of events.
I want to say thank you for putting my art up there and I am very glad you like it! And that was such a amazing video. It must be such a tragic event for those who got hit by the hurricane.
ITS MY SIBBLINGGGG!! IM SO PROUD OF YOUUUUU!! YOUR ART IS SO COOL IT GOT INTO A VIDEO!!!
I rememebr Florence, lived in Wilmington for almost 10 years before moving a year after the storm, it was absolutely brutal the amount of damage it had done to our town, because of how slow it was moving. So much flooding, but thankfully our house was spared. Driving around after coming back from evacuation was so surreal seeing all the damage, especially to all the neighborhoods, roads, and schools.
With this video, I now realize Florence is more worse than I thought... I did experience Florence but it was remnant here in NY, with gusty showers here and there. But now, it seems Florence has catastrophic impacts even beyond its retirement... I cannot even imagine communities that once thrived, gone. I also been through Sandy, that storm still has impacts beyond its grave too, with some communities still struggling to thrive, some people never returned to their homes. Even if somewhere gets rebuilt, the economic losses and damages to communities is already done either way for Florence, Sandy and other hurricanes... This also comes to show that Florence is yet another example of a weak, but catastrophic hurricane at landfall nonetheless.
I live in a small town on i40 called Kenansville and I remember this storm vividly it was terrible we were out of school for 30 instructional days just because of the flooding. And the damage to all the farms around here was so bad.
@@notmrpopular0099 i could by no stretch of the imagination call florence weak. it was insane dude it was like the world was ending
wow. this is so surreal to read!. yes. it was unbelievable. physically heartbreaking when it stopped. we were finally able to go outside after what 2 or 3 days storm.. then several weeks i was in the shelters, with red cross, then ended up at Hoggard with the other 1200 people sleeping on cots after our lives and homes were deleted. fema was hellish. the whole thing felt endless. i barely got a tiny check. tesla sent us batteries that could power a city. the people really came together tho which was big love. this area has a magic to it. Cb, Wrightsville, WLM, outer banks. all up and down. u already know. glad u made it thru ok. salt life forever ❤️✨️
Wilmington (the town limits at least) was mostly fine, more inland and north had it much worse
I live in the Charlotte Area, and when I tell you it rained, it RAINED. It rained from when the outer bands came in on the 14th, then didn’t stop until it left on the 17th. Though it didn’t flood heavily here, it affected plant life HEAVILY. Tons of trees fell, and tons of fires from trees falling on cars, as most of the trees took power lines with them.
The remnants of a hurricane can be still extremely dangerous. I remember when the remnants of Hurricane Ike move through Columbus Ohio in generated an extremely destructive windstorm.
I remember that storm well. Was living in dayton area at the time.
Very strange storm. Was only predicted to get rain out of it, instead we got hurricane gust winds.
Was without power for week and knew some without power for two weeks.
As someone whose been through the remnants of Ida 2021, I can also reckon this too. Many of the deaths where I am from (NY, to be exact) are from people in basement homes which been rapidly flooded... Florence is one of countless examples that we don't need a strong hurricane or storm to cause catastrophic impacts and damage even beyond their graves...
I got flooded from Florence. We live in New Bern, NC. Thanks so much for making this video!
Great recap and analyst. As someone who lived through hurricane Florence, it is something that I will never forget. The wind, the major flooding, the insane about of rain ( I got over 20 inches), and all the damage that followed by the wind/flooding. The strong smell of pine trees and sweet gum trees after walking outside will never leave me. Seeing a truck on its side inside a washout off of a highway, and a building that got washed out from the flooding, all the bridges that was overtaken by water and some starting to get washed out. The flooding lasted months after Florence, the worst part would be the heat wave coming in when we didnt have power for a good week or more. This is just a little piece of a ton of stuff I saw during this event.
Even with Florence retired, I cannot even imagine some once thriving communities before that hurricane, gone or struggling. One of the few cautionary examples of a weak, yet catastrophic hurricane or storm at landfall. I am 100% sure that there are other weak hurricanes that managed to make their prominent or permanent mark to somewhere. The ones that left a huge story to tell and foretold... Like... Sandy, or Ike.
I vividly remember this hurricane. I remember less of the wind, and more of the rainfall. I live on a slight hill, and the rainfall caused my entire bathroom to flood. Before Florence, it was Hurricane Matthew, which hit even harder.
Thank you so much for talking about this hurricane.
This storm was crazy. I was stationed in camp Lejune at the time. Having grown up in south Florida during the 04-06 hurricane seasons, I thought I knew what we were prepared for. The rain was so crazy that it flooded my barracks room on the 3rd floor, Leveled trees in the parking lot, and rendered a nearby building condemned when parts of the roof collapsed
I was a marine stationed at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC when Florence hit. This was my first ever hurricane and it blew my mind. I vividly remember having to empty a bucket of water outside and the wind literally blew the bucket all over me. Sleeping was a big struggle, got maybe 3 hours of sleep both nights. I didn’t know how bad the storm was until I saw how flooded the surrounding areas were. There are still countless buildings in Jacksonville and Wilmington that are damaged and not repaired from Florence.
We moved to NC in September, right after Florence hit. My dad was there when it hit.
Thank you for sharing this Alferia, the insight is so important of the impact. (I’m happily back on the gulf coast now, but I’ll never forget it.)
I've lived on the NC coast for most of my life, and I must say this was one of the worst storms I've experienced. I remember when it was forecasted to be category 4 at landfall and me and the rest of my family was getting prepared for the storm to batter us. There was just so much hell occurring for 3 days straight, the eyewall passed us and stayed there for awhile and there was so much flooding. After the storm, a majority of my neighborhood was flooded, several trees uprooted, and many damaged homes. My house luckily suffered not too heavy damage, with a few shingles torn off and a bit of water damage. A few days after the storm, I remember going out to the Surf City pier, half of it was gone and the trailer park next to it suffered severe damage. I doubt anything will come close to Florence again for a very long time, very crazy stuff.
(On a side note, We also did get a new puppy from a place in early august of that year, she is now traumatized of strong storms that pass us)
Thank you for shedding some light on horrible storms that devastated my community. No one seems to remember. My entire town was under water after Florence, including the shelters. My house flooded. There was irreparable damage everywhere. We didn't go back to school for over a month. I know a lot of people who lost their homes. The whole event was a nightmare, especially since we're 90 miles inland.
Proofreading this blue archive player’s weather scripts is my life now. Where did I go so wrong?
What's crazy is, as a student of UNCW now, people are thinking that Lee will do a similar thing since the track of both Lee and Florence are similar. We're being told that, while extremely unlikely, we are to prepare as if a major hurricane is on its way.
First off, what a great recap and overview of this storm! I was looking forward to this video for a bit, and you did not disappoint!! It was also interesting to hear you talk about NC's history with storms, and how unusual the track was for Florence at the time. It's still one of the strangest I've ever seen.
Living around the Crystal Coast area, Florence was the first hurricane I rode out at home. I experienced Irene from Wilmington while my home got flooded from the ground, so I wanted to experience a storm head on since I was older.
The difference here is that we got flooded from the sky this time! I can still remember wandering around my pitch dark house while my dad went up into the attic to try and contain leaks in the roof. Tornado warnings were going off on my phone and I didn't sleep for the entire night out of fear while keeping watch for new leaks. The water got insanely high too, but thankfully it didn't reach the house. Me and my dad even sat on the porch and watched it peak that night, and during the day you could see people riding little boats in the high water. There was even someone kayaking 😭
We rode around my community a few days later during low tide, and all I can remember was the puddles of water everywhere and the snapped trees from the multitude of weak tornadoes that came through. It was insane to me that all of that was happening and yet I had no idea, and the days after just felt like limbo to me. Our living room ceiling caved in cause of the water damage, and we pretty much retreated to the family room as it was the only habitable room in the house. We went to the local fire station to get supplies with national guard troops everywhere, and when we rode to town a few days later, I can remember seeing thick power poles snapped like damn toothpicks. That's something I definitely won't forget.
One thing I also won't forget, though, is the amount of help other states sent. There was a photo taken of an aerial view of a local high school with power trucks lined up and down the parking lot like a pack of sardines. They actually hung that photo up near the cafeteria, and it still sticks with me to this day.
It's insane to me that it's been 5 years since the storm because it still feels so recent to me. I still see damaged homes around here with tarps on roofs and construction still being done. People around here are resilient as hell, though, and most everyone here rebounded as if it never happened. It's still definitely a storm people reminisce about, and one we won't forget anytime soon.
So sorry for the long comment 😖 but I think it's interesting hearing people's stories of surviving hurricanes. Once again, love the video!!
I still cannot believe that we are already nearly 5 years since Florence, and coincidentally, next year will use the same list Florence was in! Though I must admit, Florence still makes its permanent mark, even after its retirement. Another one of few examples of a weak but catastrophic hurricane regardless of its strength.
Thank you for covering this I live in Raleigh, but have family in Newport, the flooding was absolutely horrific with this storm.
I Lived in wilmington, NC my whole life and never saw a hurricane just absolutely decimate us like that, I remember being out of school and out of power for almost a month, and seeing some extended families' trailers just picked up by the flooding and carried away, that stuff scarred me.
I live about thirty minutes off the coast in NC, and had to stay behind because we have multiple pets. From the first night to the end, that whole ordeal was hell. The river to the back of our home flooded streets like you wouldn't believe. Massive trees fell between neighboring houses (thank God it didn't land on anyone's home), and the grass those trees were embedded in was rolled up like a carpet from how the tree just slammed down. The rain seemed neverending, and I remember seeing rescue helis flying overhead the day after the storm left. I pray we never have a storm like that again.
Hurricanes Matthew and Florence were absolutely horrible. I live in Lumberton and the flooding from both of these storms was surreal. We have never experienced anything like it and we still talk about it today. If you need any information feel free to reach out.
I remember experiencing Matthew’s terror. I don’t think anybody in NC expected the storm to be that awful.
I lived there during them, I still remember the flooding. My family was lucky, if the winds were blowing a little differently, a tree would have crashed into my house at the time.
My grandparents lived just outside of New Bern. They stayed thinking it wouldn’t be that bad. But the water from the river flooded their home by around 3-4 feet. They had to escape via canoe with their two cats and dogs. Rescue boats wouldn’t let them on with their pets so they kept on rowing without getting help. Their home was ruined. It was too costly to fix it. My grandma now has PTSD and has never been the same. I feel like the Carolinas are often forgotten when it comes to hurricanes. But it greatly impacts us.
As someone who was on the receiving end of the Waccamaw River's flooding in South Carolina, It's incredibly haunting to to still see the water line from Florence permanently etched into the trees by the river on beaten roads following it, well over 9ft overhead
Phenomenal video covering this often overshadowed hurricane, It's a shame a lot of people overlook its catastrophic flooding after its landfall compared to other storms of its scale.
Yeah, Michael came in like a month after Florence... But for sure, there's no such thing as one set "worst storm ever", each hurricane I feel like has their own impacts that managed to stand out from each other, no matter how strong, weak, small, giant, etc.
As a Carolinian, who started tracking storms in 2017 and watched this hit the coast of my state was heartbreaking. I only got depression effects as I am in middle of NC, but this goes to show that c1’s are destructive too, lesson learned, never underestimate any storm.
I wasn't super conscious back in 2018, and I also live in Upstate SC, so even some of worst hurricanes I only remember as a bit of rain. Except Irma, because I watched PopularMMOS and saw their videos on Irma hitting them (I think it was Irma)
A North Carolinian here! I remember Florence clearly I was into metrology at the time and still now. I was tracking tue hurricane all the way til it made landfall and it flooded badly here: luckily my home was on a high hill area so my home didn’t get flooded but we definitely lost power. I can’t believe it’s already been 5 years since Florence it still feels fresh in my mind.
i feel u on that!. be me for a moment. still here. after that, did not recover : ( extremely fresh. still a current event for me.
My college was located just beyond a flood plane of a nearby river, I remember having classes in the morning and by the time I returned from my mid morning break the river had already flooded into parts of the parking lot and classes were canceled for the rest of the week. I also remember seeing the aftermath of the toll it took on Emerald Isle first hand once the bridges opened back up. I have a friend with a house on the sound down there and went with him to look at the damage. Luckily the main house wasn’t damaged but his dock was completely destroyed as well as the deck coming off the back of the house. The flood waters actually reached the back door but because of the amount of debris in the water it created a seal and only a minor amount of water actually made it into the house. Definitely a storm for the books and I appreciate you showing the redheaded stepchild of the hurricane prone states some attention.
Thank you for this video! Please do one for Matthew. For whatever reason, I remember Matthew more than I do with Florence. With Matthew, it was the first time I saw actual hurricane damage. The evergreen fir trees in our backyard toppled down from strong winds. And I couldn't forget the flood. Lived in Fayetteville, NC. Almost every low lying area got flooded. Highway 301 was cut off because the water was so high.
Ah, I remember Matthew. I also used to live in Fayetteville, NC and my god it was very bad.
We're from Goldsboro and Matthew definitely affected us more than Florence, the flooding was insane!
@@justsodifficult How much rain did you guys get if you had to guess? I personally measured a foot.
My town saw much worse damage in Florence, yet we were out of water and power for 7 days I believe after Mathew. Not to mention the damage in Rob Co.
I had been living in Fayetteville for a few years when Florence hit. I've been through Matthew and other storms like that there, but nothing compared to the flooding that was Florence.
The cape fear river was up to the bridges and flooded the entire downtown area with a few feet of water.
I had never seen the cape fear river so high before when it crested. I remember riding out with my family to look at the damage and not being able to get very far due to the sheer amounts of water everywhere. There were branches and tree limbs and debris floating around everywhere. I remember my momma and brothers chanting "turnaround dont drown" during the entire ride.
My home was luckily spared from any damages since we didn't live downtown but it was still a huge eyeopener
Hurricanes are absolutely insane
I enjoy your videos so much! I grew up in Alabama and lived through the 2011 tornados as a brand new nurse. I've always been interested in weather but that event really fueled my interest. Thank you for putting out videos with great content and factual information so us weather enthusiasts can continue to grow our knowledge.
I remember this like it was yesterday so much RAIN fell during Florence.. Lived here in South Carolina my whole life not quite like Hugo but this storm devastated the state. Matthew was was also a terrible day for South Carolinian’s.
I was working at restaurant just outside Charlotte at the time Florence hit. To this day, I’m still mad at the manager for not letting us leave until roads started getting flooded out. I only lived 10 minutes away, and by the time I got near my neighborhood it was obvious that there were already multiple cars that had been washed into drainage ditches near the 2 entrances. I ended up having to turn back and park on a hill at a shopping center over a mile from home and have a family member with a jeep rush to come get me before the road home was completely impassable. I’m very thankful to have been in one of the luckier areas though.
I had to think about it some more and I finally remembered. Florence hit about a year after I graduated high school (graduated on January 2017). I had alot of things going on then. Florence took out the power for a long while in Fayetteville, from what I could remember. One of dad's sheds got destroyed along with everything in it. Had to get rid of alot of things. Schools closed for a good while before slowly opening back up. I remember a couple of days after, dad went to get help and resources from natural disasters relief that was held in this one building near dowtown.
I lived there! 😢
I was living with my parents in Wilmington NC. We fled from our state and went all the way to Georgia. They didn't want to go at first but I convinced them.
We could not get back to our town for 9 days because everything was flooded. My co worker found a fish behind her fridgerator after the water was gone.
I'd lived there for 10+ yrs and this was the first time a hurricane "hovered" over us that long. It was water damage that ruined everything including my university campus.
i would absolutely love a hurricane laura analysis
I was living between Conway and Myrtle Beach when Florence, the flooding was absolutely insane. Before the storm hit, my roommates and I ended up leaving the off-campus residence we were living in and we each returned to our families, mine being only a 5 minute drive away, but in a house we had built specifically to withstand extremely high winds (my dad's idea). We made it through safety, but when I returned back to my place a day or so later, the pond there had completely flooded the parking lot.
I still have a video (not the best since I was the passenger in a car at the time I recorded) of just how bad the flood waters were in Conway a week or so after the hurricane past.
If I remember correctly, I think my university was even closed for a few weeks to a month, many students and professors couldn't make it back, and even after it reopened there were students who couldn't make it and thankfully their absences were excused due to them being trapped by the flooded roads.
Sorry for the long post, I still have a lot of memories about this storm, both leading up to and the aftermath of it
“Nascar fan in me just wanted to bring that up”
Too relatable
My grandparents house was about a mile north of the Neuse river inlet at Pamlico sound. They had over 6 feet of water damage in the lower garage and 2 - 4 feet in the main house. I spoke with my grandmother the whole way and kept telling her that the wind isn't going to be the problem, the constant wind direction and storm surge is what will make this a memorable storm. Their location along the Neuse Pamlico basin/inlet would result in a steady 24 + hours of NW winds shoving water inland with the stalling storm. Thank God it didn't intensify in route to where it made landfall
As someone who lives near Wilmington, that was easily the worst hurricane I’ve ever experienced (I’m 17.)
I knew quite a few friends who’s house was completely flooded. One of my friends lived at his grandmas place for nearly 4 years before finally getting another house. That rain was absolutely brutal
Not many people mention the fact that people who evacuated were stranded for weeks after the storm. No one could get back to the Wilmington area because EVERYWHERE was under water. Neighborhood turned into islands.
Wilmington did rebound, but I wouldn't buy a new house there. They have developed flooded areas and are selling houses at double what they were worth a week before Flo. Not disclosing flood damage when selling and a ton of people are now having terrible mold issues. The locals have been priced out and it's mostly people moving down from the northeast.
I was in Myrtle Beach.... Remember it like it was yesterday... Rip to those lost in Florence
I was affected by Florence. I live in Jacksonville NC. Power was out for 11 days, and my neighborhood had about a foot of water in it. The worst hurricane I have experienced however was Isaias.
I used to live in Winston Salem and I remember waking up to having our basement flooded which was pretty insane considering the neighorhood really wasn't in a flood prone area. Had no idea how much worse it was in other areas.
I live in Charlotte and we got the only flash flood emergency that I can remember with Florence, and the wording was very very scary.
Much love to the fellow Carolininans.. we live in smithfield for those who are familiar with that. the road that leads to the hospital was flooded even the Nuse River was flooded to
Hi from Goldsboro!!
I never even knew places that far inland had it that bad, I live in carteret county and most of what I knew was from the immediate surrounding ones
@@justsodifficult dang I have not been to Goldsboro in years..
@@whoisfluffy3476 I think where I live never really get reported much as long as it's a killing or something like that. But weather related it's always Raleigh Durham or Charlotte half the time and Fayetteville
Im from Jacksonville, NC. My family went to Georgia. I remember driving thru Duplin county when we got back and seeing all the houses that were destoryed from flooding. Trash stayed on the side of the road from the houses for over a year. It was horrible.
I’m from duplin county and I remember not being able to leave the yard by car for at least a month, the water took its time to leave that’s for sure
This is awesome great work. I live right outside of New Bern NC and this storm is the worst I've seen in my life. Fran was bad, Floyd was catastrophic, but Florence was overall the worst around here
In 2018 I was living in South Carolina I was 8 years old when I experienced hurricane Florence at the time I didn’t know what was going on but now that I watched this video I finally know why I stayed home from school that day
You know it’s the best day when Alferia uploads🔥🥶🥶☕️☕️
I’ve watched a lot of your Videos, and when you said you were a NASCAR fan, I subbed instantly
Try playing NR2003 with him and you'll be pitted before you finish the second lap....
Oh no
love the NR2003 reference, also why the heck would talladega help out, theyre wayy out in alabama (but you gotta do what you gotta do yk?)
anyways enough nascar ass eating, this video has been put together very well! enjoyed it 😊
Alferia you satisfied me again. I lm really into weather, your videos fascinate me to storms, which is why i want to be a storm chaser someday but i also like NASCAR as well. So ill think about it.
Thank you for acknowledging St Pauls. we often get looked over so much, but I'm glad that someone is actually talking about what happened in Robeson County and how terrible the flooding was for all of us. ❤
Florence was...weird. I remember watching it develop on my favorite weather blog and getting more and more concerned. I've spent enough time living in NC to be concerned, even when I'm not coastal. Hugo and fran were more actively scary with falling trees and lots if wind, but Florence was an entirely different sort of scary. Quieter maybe. It sort of sneaks up on you.
My parents' basement flooded and they're on a hill in the middle of a field. The creek i have to cross to get to work was up to the bottom of the bridge over it before it began to recede and the bridge sits several feet over the creek's highest flood stage before that. I was going to turn around with the water so high, but i carpool and the driver refused and crossed anyway. It was terrifying. I have photos of the power pole, at an angle it shouldn't be at, sticking up out of the water beside the bridge. Eventually it was washed away.
It's always weird seeing videos on places you've lived in. I've lived in Wilmington almost my entire life, this was a nice video to watch.
I’m a resident of SC on the northern coast. We evacuated to my dads place in Virginia for Florence because forecasts were showing a much stronger landfall. Mathew was more destructive to the beaches because it took out a good few piers, but with Florence the rivers stay VERY high for weeks afterwards from all the rain. Houses by the waterway were underwater for a long time and many people lost their homes. I remember racing back to the beach, trying to get in again before the rivers flooded the only ways into the city. It was real bad in Conway and Socastee. I remember the coast guard putting up sand bags to delay the only road into town from flooding to get as many people as possible back in after the evacuation. Then of course it flooded and we basically lived on an island for a few weeks.
Also, wow! I forgot about i95 flooding at lumberton! I remember I read that it was flooded (our way home) so I went a different way back. When we got back i saw a dead fish stuck in a chain link fence at a dog park that flooded.
Florence was definitely a first for me. I was born after Floyd. I remember my high school cancelling classes for several days as the gyms and cafeterias were turned into shelters for those fleeing the storm.
I remember this storm like it was yesterday flooded the river by my house was stuck for a week in the house no power house was shaking rain seemed endless
your documentaries are amazing, im really glad i found your channel :)
I've discovered his channel around 2021, I'm also glad I found and watch Alferia. No word can describe how profound and well-made Alferia's videos are, at all. One thing is for sure, he's on his way for a big milestone!
Thank you for doing this video. I will never forget this storm. Seeing the swift water rescue teams full sirens speeding down Chapel Hill road, and experiencing flash flooding while driving to work (yeah my employer made everyone come back to work during the flooding in Durham/Chapel Hill). It was terrifying.
You should cover more hurricanes! I was 10 miles from the eye of Hurricane Charlie as a kid, one of the craziest and scariest experiences of my life. It's the hurricane that turned me into a Florida Man™️ and now I only evacuate during the last 12 hours before landfall.
The curse of Tampa Bay is long overdue, my gut says we're gonna be hit with a cat 5 within the next 3 years.
Dude, you have to get out faster.
I don’t think hurricanes can be “overdue” but the geographical location of Tampa bay makes it so they avoid a lot of hurricanes and swfl usually takes the hit. But yes same with charley, it was an insane storm! Was trapped in the closet with my mom and it seriously sounded insane! The sounds of the howling wind still haunt me lol
its always a good day when alferia uploads
I just recently subscribed cause i cant get enough of your commentary on each natural disaster
The 1000 flood never got much coverage and to this day a lot of people forget about how bad it truly was. I remember being out of school for over a week. I remember the news saying basically the “fire house” effect from a front pulling all the moister from the hurricane, pounding us with pouring rain for days
As someone who lives in Wilmington and someone who stayed and loved weather since 2008, Florence was long, I didn’t get power back until 9 days after we lost power, and yes Wilmington did bounce back quickly and now we’re overpopulated lol, But I have a few old photos I could share if that would interest you just to see some firsthand damage from 8 hours after landfall
I remember Florence, we live in Charlotte, there wasn’t that much flooding, but their were strong winds, the power went out, and we slept in the basement
Thank you again for another excellent video.
I live in Ainger, near Benson, and I still remember Florence as if it was yesterday and how terrified people around me were, i was a kid but i still remember a lot about Florence
I will always remember Florence because it was so close to my home in VA but glad everyone was safe. Also, love your work, keep it up!
I lived in the middle of NC towards the SC border (Mineral Springs, Union Co.) and there was so much flooding of my neighbors' houses. A few bridges were taken out and we couldn't even get anywhere for a while. I have videos of it to on my main channel. Wilmington was absolutely pummeled on the coast. I went to the college there and just graduated and there are still remenants of the storm and its destruction in the area. I live in Wilmington now.
I live in Wilmington NC and went through Florence. I thoroughly enjoyed this very in depth video! Best of luck to you in your future with meteorology. You'll do great.
Yet another detailed video on a disaster I had never even heard of before. Amazing work.
I have experience Hurricane Florence when I used to live in North Carolina and it was the most chaotic experience of my life so far
I grew up with NC hurricanes but it was my first year at UNCW when Florence hit, so a month or so after move in we all had to move back out because they said they weren’t responsible for any of our stuff if our dorm windows shattered. It took weeks to get campus liveable again, and even then we were finding black mold and an insane amount of bugs in the buildings. Not to mention the buildings that had to be torn down, trailers brought in to be labs after losing our entire science building, and a month of curriculum waived so we missed all of asia in art history lmao. Crazy time.
Edit to add my natural disasters professor from CA stayed to watch the eye and raves about it to this day. He may have been the only one enjoying it.
I live in York SC, i remember watching the track anxiously since it was originally forecast to make landfall further south. Had it done so then my area would have been more significantly impacted
I lived in a place that was severely affected by this storm in NC (Morehead City area) and I lost my home to this storm. It wasn’t until January 2021 that I was able to move back in, if it wasn’t for the people of the Reach Global team from Minnesota I don’t think that I would even be able to be back in my house today, this storm has done a great deal to our communities and there’s still may today that haven’t got their homes rebuilt. This video was a great watch and very enjoyable, although tough to revisit those memories.
I remember when Florence made landfall. I live in the State of Delaware. When the north Carolina governor sent out the call for help our state emergency management agency put together a taskforce made up of 42 firefighters from various volunteer fire departments
(which most departments are here)
Our crews were sent to the outer banks and firefighters from my home town were in Morehead city
I love listening to your videos while I work.
I remember growing up in NC. I moved around a lot back then. When I first moved to NC from SC, I went to elementary school in Robeson county. I don't have many memories from there. But it made me sad hearing how it was impacted. I moved to St. Pauls after, where I continued elementary school. That's where my best friend at the time taught me how to make a duck noise! But it got hit hard by Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. I remember going through St. Pauls a couple years back. It never seemed like it fully recovered. Maybe consider it rose tinted glasses, but St. Pauls was growing before the two hurricanes. When I went through there, it seemed like everything had gone stagnant. It was sad to see. I lived in the outskirts of Charlotte when Florence hit. I was in 'Intermediate School'. It didn't hit us too hard, we lived on the top of a slope. I can't remember much of it, but the time I lived there it just seemed tropical storms and hurricanes hit so often. Anyways, I'm glad that the Carolinas got mentioned, as an SC native, I'd really appreciate if you could cover Hurricane Hugo.
Watching this during a very loud storm
Oh I remember Florence. I was only 12 when she hit and damn did she mess up Wilmington. My mom didn’t drive me around until everything was mostly fixed, so I can’t say how exactly bad flooding was. I can say though I lost so many nostalgic childhood trees around my area.. Me and my mom stayed the entire ride, hell I slept through when the hurricane first showed up. We lost power for nine solid days. (Me and my mom got SO excited when we saw a bucket truck/power men working on the power lines though driving by) It was hot as hell and I remember spending my entire day soaking my feet in a tub of water reading diary of a wimpy kid books, frustrated. Florence was so damn SLOW I just wanted to go back online to text my friends on Animal Jam (kids game) but I unfortunately couldn’t do it. Hell back then I was a huge comic book writer so I wrote a whole rant comic series about all the hurricanes as humans going to school, and pretty much had all the kids make fun of Florence for being stupid and slow ha ha. Would stay up most of the night with a fake candle to make the comic, I’d carve drawings into it. I also fondly remember after 5 days of no hot meals, we finally were able to go to Waffle House to get some food. I remember the next day going to Whole Foods being impressed the power was even on. Got to FINALLY play animal jam to let my friends know I was okay. Florence definitely scared me and I’m just praying my area doesn’t see another hurricane this year. I was terrified of Lee for a while. I definitely feel a bit nostalgic for Florence but I’m still mad how tragic and horrible her destruction was. Definitely was unique I don’t understand how she just would NOT go away. Couldn’t stand it.
I was 17 when Florence happened
I remember evacuating for that storm. We got lucky. Thank you for the great documentary!
I’m from South Carolina here, and I remember Florence! I live around the capital and I do say it was a pretty bad hurricane! But if you can do a video on the 1000 year flood of 2015 from hurricane Joaquin, that storm forever changed the landscape of South Carolina, and to this day there is still some places that never recovered here around the capital such as Lexington counties old mill and a few bridges and roads. I remember the news saying basically the “fire house” effect from a front pulling all the moister from the hurricane, pounding us with pouring rain for days
The 1000 flood never got much coverage and to this day a lot of people forget about how bad it truly was. I remember being out of school for over a week back in High school. I remember the news saying basically the “fire house” effect from a front pulling all the moister from the hurricane, pounding us with pouring rain for days.
damn Alferia is pioneering new genre of commentary, good job man this is what the weather community needs
not Direct Weather's trash content
I still remember Florence vividly. I was still in high school when it hit, we had schools close down due to it. Despite it being so many years since then, we still feel the after effects of the storm.
I'm watching this right as the 2024 season begins, I can only hope we're spared this year.
I remember being in Charleston, SC in the middle of it. Don't know why my family was there, but the winds and rain were absolutely crazy. The tall buildings made it a lot worse.
Speaking on nascar we went to the southern 500 on the 2nd. But because of the evacuation order for sc the race didn’t end until 2am because of rain on the 3rd. Living in shallotte we then didn’t stop seeing rain for 2 more weeks. But it was still a pretty good race.
This was living hell. We had no power, no food, the only cheese we had was ez spray cheese (ew). No Tv, only radio. After the hurricane we had to buy a new fridge. We would've boiled water when we had ran out of water bottles, but we had an electric stove. We also had a small generator with just enough power to charge our phones and flashlights. We were probably lucky with how little damage we got, since we lived very close to a bunch of creeks in Fayetteville at the time.
UNCW had damage to the chemistry and atmospheric chemistry building. Some very important research had to be rescued by staff that stayed in town during the storm. Many people returning to New Hanover- Burnswick counties could not return due to flooding on all roads back. Eventually days after the storm made landfall people were finally able to make it back but having to wait until low tide to make it back home because high tide the water would return to the roads.
This is the storm that awoke my love for severe weather. I remember the winds whipping the trees and being pounded by rain all the way on the Virginia east coast. I am now hoping to pursue an education and career as a broadcast meteorologist specifically in Tornado Alley.
I rode Florence out in Havelock, I’ve never seen it rain so hard for so long. Seeing neighborhoods under water is something I never want to see again.
Thank you so much for this video! I never really knew much about this hurricane except I think it was on an episode of Storm Hunters? But this is so interesting.
Amazing recap, this storm I remember is from meteorology class I was in during college in California. Never realized it was named from the Walmart parking lot.. who knew
i was born and raised in North Carolina, but moved to the UK with my mom and stepdad when i was 7 in 2010, i remember being so worried about my biological dad during florence, he lived alone and didnt have many close relatives or friends at the time. during florence he had a power outage and didnt reply for a few days and that was the most terrifying experience ever.
I’m really impressed with the production of your video although I haven’t been commenting since the El Reno 2013 video. But do cont❤to watch your videos especially those about Katrina, Sandy and Darchio in the mid US which I rare ply experience in my country although the former albeit name differently.
My parents forced me to evacuate from North Myrtle Beach back when it was expected to make landfall in that vicinity as a Cat 4. For reference we lived about maybe half a mile away from the shore. I took our oldest dog with me to my aunt’s house in Chesapeake, VA. It took me nearly 3 weeks to get home after Florence. My bosses at my job were like, when are you going to make it back and I told them every time they insisted I try to make the trip again that every way back was flooded and I’d have to wait for things to recede before I could get home. Sure, I could have gone to a closer relative’s home, but they were in Columbia. Even worse flooding had I gone there, so I think I made the right choice.
I was living in Lumberton,NC when Florence hit. It flooded my hometown, I remember not being able to go anywhere because of high water.
The similarities between Floyd and Florence are uncanny. It's true what they say, history repeats itself.
12:24 Yoooo, but this is actually neat, tho. Cuz those tracks DO take up a lot of land. Outside of events and practice runs, they don't see much use. I'm a bit of a NASCAR fan, too, Alferia, so I'd've been pretty excited to spend a few days at a track, even if it meant potential flood inundation at home.