Coastal Flood in Virginia, February 4 to 6, 1998

A Nor'easter battered eastern Virginia from Tuesday, February 3rd through Thursday, February 5th. The slow movement of the storm resulted in an extended period of gale to storm force onshore winds which drove tidesto 7.0 feet above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) at Sewells Point in Norfolk. These tide levels resulted in moderate to severe coastal flooding throughout the Hampton Roads area and the Virginia Eastern Shore. In Accomack county, the entire island of Chincoteague was under water and the causeway was closed. Some families had to evacuate and some businesses, including the fire house, had some water in buildings. The water rose to above the hoods of police cars. In Wachapreague, some hotels received some flooding. In Hampton Roads, the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Hampton reported some structural damage to buildings along the bay and coast, as well as significant beach erosion. Norfolk reported main roads and intersections under 3 feet of water or greater with many roads impassable. North facing areas in Willoughby and Ocean View suffered the greatest damage. In the Chick's Beach area of Virginia Beach, 4 condominiums were undermined by the tidal flooding, and residents of those buildings had to be evacuated. Twenty-nine house fires were also reported in Norfolk as a result of flood water shorting out furnaces. In Gloucester county, the bay rose to 3 to 4 feet above normal, requiring one family to be rescued by rowboat. Otherwise, locally moderate flooding was reported across the middle peninsula and northern neck areas. The rainfall combined with the gale and storm force winds resulted in some trees downed across much of eastern Virginia. In addition, there were widely scattered power outages.