This season's 14th named Atlantic storm, Tropical Storm Nicole, dissipated over the Florida Straits late yesterday afternoon. Although she only lasted 6 hours as a Tropical Storm, the storm triggered torrential heavy rains that caused havoc from the Caribbean to North Carolina. In Jamaica, pictured top, flash flooding from Nicole's rains killed at least 5, and several other people were swept away by flood waters and are feared dead. The storm cut power to 170,000 island residents, and caused millions of dollars in damage. In SE Florida, Nicole brought 5.83" of rain to Miami, 9.58" to Plantation Key, and 5.44" to Homestead. However, Florida escaped serious flooding. Cuba also received widespread rain amounts of 5 to 10 inches, but there are no reports of serious flooding on the island. The remnants of Nicole will continue to bring heavy rains to portions of Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Bahamas today. In North Carolina, the the tropical moisture streaming N in advance of Nicole has generated an epic rainfall event. Wilmington, North Carolina, pictured above, recorded 20.69 inches of rain over the past 4 days, and 21.28" for the 5 day period ending this morning. The rainfall totals have eclipsed the city's record for heaviest 4 day and 5 day rainfall events, set in September 1999 during Hurricane Floyd (19.06"). The historic rainfall is causing severe and damaging flooding across much of eastern North Carolina. Eastern North Carolina has under moderate drought conditions prior to this week's rainfall, so the flooding damage will not be as great as the billions of dollars of damage wrought by Hurricane Floyd.
No comments:
Post a Comment