Hurricane in Virginia, September 15 to 16, 1999

Hurricane Floyd was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. Sustained tropical storm force winds with gusts to near hurricane force occurred over the northwest quadrant of the storm over interior portions of northeast North Carolina and along the coastal waters of the Wakefield marine area. The center of the storm crossed the county warning area along an Elizabeth City to Currituck county to Sandbridge Virginia Beach axis. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 69 mph at Chesapeake Light (CHLV2). Other sustained wind speeds were 46 mph at Langley Air Force Base (LFI), 44 mph at Norfolk Naval Air Station (NGU), and 41 mph at Oceana Naval Air Station (NTU). The highest gusts recorded were 100 mph at the James River Bridge, 84 mph at Chesapeake Light, and 63 mph at Langley Air Force Base. Two confirmed tornadoes occurred in association with Floyd. There were approximately several thousand persons evacuated and housed in several shelters from coastal jurisdictions. Hundreds of trees and power lines were blown down across interior southeast Virginia and the immediate Hampton Roads area, resulting in widespread power outages. The tidal departure at Sewells Point in Norfolk was 3.9 feet above normal or 6.4 feet above MLLW. This resulted in moderate to locally severe coastal flooding approximately 2 hours before high tide on the 16th. The tide gage in downtown Norfolk recorded a tide of 7.1 feet above MLLW. Flooding was more widespread during Hurricane Floyd due to extremely heavy rainfall before and during the peak storm tide. Storm surge flooding of 5 to 7 feet occurred over central portions of the Chesapeake Bay inundating sections of Accomack county. Some homes were flooded with 3 to 6 feet of water. The lowest sea level pressure recorded was 970 mb at Chesapeake Light (CHLV2).Floyd will be remembered as an extremely wet hurricane for east-central Virginia. The presence of a stalled frontal boundary provided the focus for extremely heavy rains. Rainfall amounts averaged 10 to 20 inches in a 50 to 75 mile swath centered over the headwaters of the Chowan River Basin in interior southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina extending into the middle peninsula. Numerous roads were washed out due to flooding. Primary routes out of service included US 460 near Wakefield, US 58 near Emporia and Franklin, and Interstate 95 south of Petersburg to Emporia.