Hurricane in North Carolina, August 26 to 27, 1998

The eye of slow-moving Hurricane Bonnie made landfall at Bald Head Island during mid-afternoon and took 2 hours to exit the county. Wind reports ranged as high as 93 mph at Southport, where damage was most extensive...the 50-foot steeple was blown down from the Mt Carmel Methodist Church and many trees and homes were damaged. Rainfall ranged from around 7 inches in the east side of the county, where there was extensive ponding of water, to 2 inches in the west. Storm surge was 5-8 feet on the eastern barrier islands, with 2 feet overwash reported on Bald Head Island. Extensive beach erosion occurred on the eastern end of Holden Beach, where up to 20 feet of dune was lost and some homes were undermined. In Supply, the Brunswick Community Hospital suffered the loss of 3000 square feet of roof and an air conditioner. 12,000 people were evacuated from the coast, 3,000 went to emergency shelters. Crops lost included cotton, soybeans, corn, tobacco. Federal Disaster declared.