Hurricane Opal
One of the tropical cyclone disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $9.6 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($4.7 billion at the time) and 27 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 7 most significant tropical cyclone episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Losses, 2024 dollars
- $9.6 billion
- Losses at the time
- $4.7 billion
- Deaths
- 27
The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 7 | 0 | 3 | $5.3 million |
| Florida | 17 | 1 | 3 | $372,000 |
| Virginia | 4 | 0 | 0 | $190,000 |
| Alabama | 10 | 0 | 0 | $105,000 |
| North Carolina | 6 | 0 | 0 | $93,000 |
| South Carolina | 18 | 0 | 0 | $88,000 |
Episode by episode
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Florida, October 3, 1995Several trees and power lines were blown down north of Crestview.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Florida, October 4, 1995A tornado briefly touched down in Fort Walton Beach blowing down some trees and causing some minor roof damage to two homes.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Alabama, October 4, 1995Several trees and power lines were blown down in the Conecuh National Forest along Highway 137 near Beda.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, October 5, 1995Numerous trees down.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, October 5, 1995Large tree limbs were downed, damaging a shed.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Virginia, October 5, 1995Several trees down.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Maryland, October 5, 1995A tornado touched down just east of Crownsville, and skipped northeast along a 3.8 mile track, exiting Arnold along the Magothy River.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 1995The 1995 hurricane seasonTornadoes in 1995
Sources
NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.